Day 5 - Specifics on Zachary

A good friend of ours in the medical community has been with us every step of the way. She wrote out the specifics of Zachary’s condition.
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- The MRI of his brain has a slightly concerning area but will be repeated in 3 weeks to further evaluate. He appears to respond normally to voice, touch and painful stimuli.

- They were unable to pass a tube thru either side of his nose which could be a blockage or an atresia but that is also uncertain at this point. An ENT (ear, nose,throat) Dr will be evaluating

him on Monday for that and also for...

- His trachea (the passageway from mouth to lungs) is about 2mm in diameter. That is very tiny, about half the size that would be expected for his size. This can create complications for

breathing. So far it has not been too much of an issue as he has a breathing tube and is on a ventilator. They expect to take him off the ventilator on Monday. He is now doing some breathing on

his own.

- Zach's heart is very special. He has 2 chambers instead of 4 and several valve and circulation issues. This will require 3 possibly 4 surgeries to correct. His condition will dictate when he

has to have surgery. It could be in a few days, a few weeks or a few months. If you want to know medical terminology think hypoplastic left heart, transposition, pulmonary artery/tracheal

sling, VSD, mitral valve atresia, and more.

-Most of his blood vessels both arteries and veins are very tiny; smaller than expected, making IV and line placement very challenging.

- His stomach was not connected to his small intestine so his surgery on Thursday corrected that. Also his colon was not attached to the outside a condition called Imperforate anus. In surgery

they created a colostomy by bringing his colon through an opening in his stomach and attached a plastic bag of sorts so for the time being this is where stool passes. Eventually as his small

intestine heals and he can eat they will create an anus (2nd GI surgery) and then in a 3rd surgery reattach it all.

- His rectum is connected to his urinary tract- we aren't sure exactly where yet- so that urine and stool are mixed. This will be repaired during one of the future GI surgeries.

- Zach's sweet little hands each have 4 fingers and no thumb. Eventually they will move his pointer fingers over to the thumb position so he can grasp. He does curl his little fingers around

your finger and holds on tight!

- His arms are slightly shorter than normal mostly due to a shortened fore arm. He has no radius (bone from elbow down to thumb) on the left side.

Our current expectation should all go well is that Zachary will be in the NICU at Phoenix Children's Hospital for several weeks. They will try to start feeding him with sterile water through a

tube to his stomach in about 7 days. They will very slowly progress to milk feedings (diluted at first) as he tolerates them. They will monitor his heart condition closely and intervene as

necessary. His condition will change daily but as of now this is where we stand. The Getz family has a long road of recovery ahead and will need your continued prayers but God has been so very

faithful and will continue to give them grace one day at a time.