Pyloric Stenosis

Thought i would update everyone on our slightly traumatic past few days. The short of it is that Henry was diagnosed with a stomach condition called Pyloric Stenosis. We went to the ER on Saturday, had surgery late Saturday night and we just got back home Sunday evening and Henry seems to be doing well.

The long of it goes like this-- on Thursday Henry had his two-month checkup and his immunizations. At the appointment Dr. G found what he described as a "mass" in Henry's stomach and wanted us to have an ultrasound performed. Thursday night he was really unhappy after his shots and super fussy (read screaming his head off) the next day. We were lucky enough to get the ultrasound Friday morning and although they didn't find any type of mass, they did confirm a diagnosis of pyloric stenosis. This condition involves the pyloral muscle which is located at the bottom of the stomach which opens to release the stomach contents into the lower intestine. The muscle becomes thickened, reducing the opening the food passes through. The stomach contents build up and you are rewarded with projectile vomiting.

In the past several weeks the spit-up had increased and at least once a day Henry would erupt, losing the entire contents of his stomach. This was both scary and disgusting-- especially when it came spewing from his nose. The only fix for pyloral stenosis is abdominal surgery. We were told that if your child was going to have a problem requiring surgery this was the one to have. It has a 100% success rate, is minimally invasive, and very quick. We spent Saturday at the ER and being admitted to the hospital and then late Saturday night they did the surgery. Henry did great in the surgery and his been recovering really well.

They kept us in the hospital all day Sunday to make sure that he was able to tolerate food once he started eating. He progressed through the feeding ladder like a champ and was able to keep everything down. So-- we were able to come home this evening. We're hoping that this helps Henry be a little more comfortable and perhaps cut down on some of the loud crying that was getting worse in the past several weeks.