Monday, May 14 (Entry No. 2)

Collin's Big Adventure

One week ago, today, Baby Collin went on the biggest adventure of his life, to date. Mommy and Daddy stayed at the hospital with him all night so Daddy could spend some precious moments with Collin before the trip.


In the morning, Sherry, one of the special angels who cared for Collin (and his parents) in the NICU came up to say goodbye.



After some tears and lots of "goodbyes" from the medical staff, they prepared to leave the hospital. Baby Collin was strapped into his big boy car seat (a gift from Nana V) and the car seat was strapped onto a stretcher.

They wheeled the stretcher down to a waiting ambulance, which then drove them to the airport.

Mommy nearly fainted when she saw the tiny plane which was to fly them to Omaha!


On board, in addition to Collin and his mom were a respiratory therapist, a NICU nurse and the pilot. Mommy said that she could touch both walls of the airplane if she stretched her arms out!


Collin seemed to enjoy his "Air Evac" cap, he slept the entire trip.


At one point the turbulence was so violent that Mommy pulled out her video recorder because she wanted to document it, thinking no one would believe her. Another ambulance met them at the airport in Omaha and drove them swiftly to University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Collin has a private room which his mommy has made so cozy with his favorite mobile, pictures of Mommy and Daddy and lots of cute, cuddly toys.


There, the nurses, care coordinators and surgical team have been wonderful, answering questions and giving Collin's mom hope. Patients with short bowel syndrome have several procedures that can be done to overcome it. Intestinal rehabilitation (such as lengthening or stretching Collin's small intestine) is an option, as is a small intestine transplant. One such maneuver is the STEP procedure.

The first surgery that will likely occur is the removal of some scar tissue at the point where the first surgeon connected Collin's healthy small intestine to his colon. The doctors would like Collin to grow a few more weeks before they do this procedure, however. The point in removing that scar tissue is the hope that it would increase the transit time for Collin's food intake. (The time frame between him ingesting food and having a bowel movement.)

Collin's mom was thrilled to learn that the surgeon who will likely perform this procedure and who will perform the "intestinal lengthening procedure" is currently the World's leading surgeon in this area.

Being in Omaha has it's advantages and disadvantages for Collin's mom. Advantages include the closer physical proximity to Nana V and Grandma MaryJo as well as the other Ohio relatives; being admitted to the best intestinal rehabilitation/transplant hospital in the world; having tons of family and friends in Omaha to visit Collin and his mom and it's a really nice, middle sized town. Disadvantages, of course include not having Daddy there yet, not having a house or a car and being away from the loving medical team at UMC in Tucson. (**Erin asked me to send a shout out to Sherry, Beth, Gene, Dr. Tai, Debbie and all the other docs and nurses who took such good care of our Collin while he was there. They miss and love you guys!**)

We continue to pray constantly for our family to remain strong and committed to our little family, for Collin's continued growth and good health, for Collin's dad to be stationed in Omaha very soon, and for continued strength and faith for Collin's mom. Thank you for joining us in our prayers!