Abigail has Hirschsprung's for sure. It's unfortunately been confirmed with her biopsy this morning. Her surgeon, Dr. Meyers, has been wonderful. We've been told that the U of U Surgical team at Primary Children's Hospital are among the best! We believe it :)
Abby is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, Jan 17th. The surgery should last 3-3 1/2 hours total. There are essentially two options for surgery, either she'll need two surgeries or just one. We're obviously praying to just have one!
Both of the surgeries start with them going in with a camera and doing more biopsies up Abigail's large intestine. They have to see just how far up the abnormal cells go. They will remove the portion of her intestine that has abnormal/no ganglion cells. One of two things will happen at this point:
A: They remove the small portion of intestine that is abnormal and re-attach the intestine to her rectum. Her surgery is done...THIS is the outcome that we're praying for! If I have researched and heard Dr. Meyers right, the incision will be in her rectum, so she'll never have a visible scar!
-or-
B: The amount of intestine with abnormal cells is too large for a one-step surgery. They will cut off the intestine to the rectum and do a colostomy. Abigail would have a bag until about 6 months, then would go in to remove the bag and remove/reconnect the large intestine to her rectum. This is the option that I would less prefer. She would have scars from the bag and have more than one surgery.
She will have to stay in the hospital for 1-2 weeks, depending on how well she does after surgery. And, of course, being that it's bowel surgery she won't be able to eat for a day or two. We were also under the impression that Hirschsprung's was hereditary. Well, it SOMETIMES is. The larger cases, which are about 20% of Hirschsprung's cases, are usually the hereditary ones. Basically, when there are NO normal cells in any of the large intestine. Abigail can go potty on her own in between the two enemas we do a day, so we're thinking that this is not the case. Correction....we're praying that this is not the case.
My heart breaks for her, but I do feel as if we're blessed that she doesn't have anything that is more serious. She might have some issues later on in life, after the surgery, with incontinence or constipation. But, she has her life which is more important. When they repeatedly told me, before they finished her tests and put her in the NICU, that they didn't know if they could fix her problem and save her, I thought we were going to lose her. I think Ian and I both thought that, they were pretty sure that something was drastically wrong with her small intestine, which can't always be fixed. So all in all, I may be stressed, but I'm happy that this is the outcome. At least I still have my 2 beautiful girls!!!
I also just have to say that going through this has made me realize how many people care and how loved we are. Thank you everyone for your support, prayers, and offers for help! We truly feel blessed!
**EDIT**
Feb 17th...not Jan...I'm out of it!
