Sawyer and His Rough Start

So as many of you know Sawyer has had a pretty rough start. When they did the bilirubon test shortly after his birth his conjugated bilirubin levels were high which was unusual, so we did more blood tests over the next three weeks and his levels were not decreasing but increasing. Thanks to our great pediatrician Russell McKenna who spotted the problem initially, we were referred to Dr. Hernsberger in SLC. She was very concerned and told us that this was probably a result of Biliary Atresia - which means - a blockage of the bile duct of the liver which goes into the intestine. After an ultrasound it was decided that surgery was necessary to find out if it was the ducts and if so they would need to be repaired or created in Sawyer's case. Here's a simple explanation of the Biliary Atresia and the surgery.
"Biliary Atresia occurs within the first two months of life when there is a blockage of the bile duct connecting the liver to the gut. Eventually the blockage will cause a buildup of bile in the liver that leads to damage and scarring of the liver cells, and if untreated, this scarring will cause liver failure and the need for liver transplantation. The Kasai operation attempts to reconstruct the bile duct with a loop of intestine. In the Kasai procedure the small intestine is attached to the liver directly so that the bile may drain.
While the Kasai procedure allows some children who would otherwise not be able to live normal healthy lives return to normal growth and activities, most patients with this disease will still eventually need a liver transplant."
So little Sawyer went in for surgery his surgeon Dr. Scaife is one of the best surgeons in the U.S. so we are very fortunate to live so close to Primary Children's Hospital. The surgery took 5-6 hours and everything went as planned. It was hard seeing him connected to the respirator and all the IV lines and monitors, but the care he received was excellent. He made great progress and only spent two days in the Pediatric ICU, and instead of two weeks in the hospital Sawyer came home in 6 days. He has now been home for more than two weeks and last Saturday night/Sunday morning he finally had green poop. We had a poo party that morning - we ate sausage - green poo indicates that his liver is passing the bile into the intestines. He was pretty yellow but has been gaining his normal color more and more everyday. We are ecstatic about his progress. We really have felt and appreciate everyone's prayers, thoughts, and help. We'll start meeting with Doctors next week to check on progress and get some official results from the blood work.

Here's a video of a similar procedure - isn't bloody, but not for queasy types.

Here is a sad picture of him in the PICU, I'll post a current pic when I get one. Jaclyn says he's smiling a lot and feeling much better. I'm working in Salt Lake and Jaclyn is home with the 3 boys. I owe her all my weekends for a very long time. I'll post more updates on the other stuff going on, my new job, renting our house, finding a new place to live, and Sawyer's progress.

Dave