No more "tubeless"

Surgery is set for this coming Monday at WCH. Gtube will be placed in his old site. We should be there a couple of nights. After taking him to the GI and having the BRAVO placed and an upper GI they think there is no need for the prevacid anymore. Apparently it seems the nissen wrap Camden has is working well enough. He has starting gagging more and not eating as much, so Im going to have to disagree. He did this last time I tried taking him off the prevacid. But that is another story... We went to see Dr P, a surgeon who we have heard of since Camden was born but we already had one at that time (who has moved). Camden's current surgeon, Dr K, has moved as well, so I thought for things like this I should find someone closer. Dr P lifted Camden's shirt, looked him over a few seconds and already had his opinion, agreeing that he needed a feeding tube. He was not only worried about his low weight, but also that he wasn't getting enough nutrition for healthy brain and body developement. He goes out to Afghanistan soon, so we have to do surgery before he leaves. (Thank you for your service!!) I felt very comfortable with him and really liked him. With Camden being older, things are so different now. Having to explain what will happen, what pain he may feel, and then seeing the concern on his face is difficult. I keep assuring him this is going to be a good thing. As much as I hate to see him go through ANOTHER procedure, I am so ready to see him grow stronger and look healthier! People have recently asked things: "Will he still be able to eat?" Yes. He will eat just like he does now. I am thinking I will run the feeding pump very slowly during the night to get his extra calories in. Hopefully that will do the trick and we won't have to go to day feeds. "How long will he have it?" As long as her needs it. I am thinking years. I am in no rush to get this out and have to do this over again! We will know when Camden has learned to eat enough to maintain his weight. He needs to grow more and be able to consume more. "Does it hurt?" "Can he swim or get on his belly?" Once it heals it shouldn't hurt at all. There may be sore days for different reasons, but overall it shouldn't hurt. He can swim and get on his belly. He will learn to favor that area and we could even wrap it for a certain activity if we needed to. The tube can be pulled out of his belly but hopefully that won't happen since he won't be hooked up to feeds during the day. When the feeding tube is disconnected, it just looks like a flat button on his belly. Thank you for loving our boy. He is our JOY. And really, overall he is doing incredibly well!! Thankful to our Lord! Blessings! ~ Devon =)