The endoscopy is complete, with no perforations or increased bleeding! That’s the good news. Prior to the procedure, we met with Dr. Cuffari, the GI specialist, to sign consents and learn about possible outcomes.
What the endoscopy revealed is that Tyler’s condition is the worst case scenario. His stomach showed completely homogeneous and diffuse irritation throughout all of his stomach tissue. There is no focal point injury such as an ulcer causing his bleeding (that would have been the best case scenario). The blood is simply oozing out from all of the tissue in large volumes. Based on how Tyler’s intestines looked on the CT scan, Dr. Cuffari can only assume that his intestines are in the same bad shape. Having the entire stomach and large sections of bowel be so damaged is very serious. It can lead to tissue death, peritonitis, and sepsis.
Tyler has already been receiving treatment for two weeks for this condition, yet has been getting worse each day, so Dr. Cuffari isn’t very hopeful that it will improve with time. He said the stomach and intestines are very unforgiving when injured. Another concern is that Tyler cannot keep being given blood indefinitely, yet cannot survive without it.
Although this was very hard to hear and the doctor was very apologetic for delivering such bad news, I can’t help but think about how Tyler’s lungs were “unrecoverable” as well. Please pray that every day the tissue in Tyler’s GI tract will heal more and more! I believe that He who began a good work in Tyler will be faithful to complete it!
Tyler is very awake today and able to keep his eyes open for much longer periods. He is showing clear signs that he understands what is being said to him. I spent an amazing hour with him this morning just talking to him while we locked gazes. It was priceless! He also had range of motion exercises with an occupational therapist, and she was very happy that he has no stiffness in his joints despite being paralyzed for over 4 weeks.