Flying Mickey

Yesterday was an interesting day for Tommy and I. The twenty minutes that I'm about to share with you has never occured to us before. I only wish our 'first time' experiences would begin to slow down soon. But life with a medically complex kid, never does. We are so blessed that Tommy continues to be healthy and these small 'first time' experiences pale in comparison to many that others face.

When we get to Promise daycare, the boys LOVE to immediately begin playing with cars, the 'house', their friends are waiting for both of them and eagerly welcoming, rocking horse, etc. I stay awhile with them and do a quick catch up with their teachers, but often am not totally devoting my attention to either of them. So when their teacher mentioned Tommy's belly plug was 'out', I was thinking she meant the plug on it had opened, since I wasn't exactly looking at either of the twins. Nope. The ENTIRE mickey had come out of his stomach. It had failed and was lying on the ground.

God's timing is great, absolutely perfect. First, I was there when it happened, if anytime for his Mickey to fail it would be best if dad or I were near. Second, my husband, and many of your blogs, had told me basically what the following tasks would entail. The teachers at Promise never faulter, they were calm, and each of us figured out what to do next.

Literally, tummy 'stuff' was shooting out of Tommy. Morning breakfast, milk, etc. He wasn't fazed by it, but his walking around the classroom was making pressure on his tummy and 'stuff' easily came out of the stoma. One little classmate asked "why is that boy spitting up out of his belly button".

With the help of loving Promise teachers, I ran to my van and got our spare Mickey. ALWAYS keep a spare. Always. I inserted the tube into his stoma, took 5cc of water in a syringe to blow up the balloon, and presto. All was done. Just a reminder that the stomach makes funny girgly sounds, and when you have an open hole the sounds are amplified. That part made me queasy, so I just want to share with everyone it is literally open hole to the stomach.

One of his teachers had already cleaned up everything with bleachwater. Thank you!

Such a big event for my son and I. Tommy had a few tears, but both of us were pleased with how the event went. Cuddles and conversation afterward helped. Liam was fairly unconnected to the event. With all that he has seen, it didn't faze him.

And the lil' classmate to Tommy got a quick education in 'why' Tommy drinks milk thru his tummy tube. After sharing with this little friend all the related information, I asked him if he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. His reply was "I JUST want to be a grown up". Sometimes it's just that simple.