~SBMbride~ re: MicKey (PIP)

TriciaJoy

Here's a picture of Robbie right after he had his MicKey put back in. (this was actually taken up in the PICU where he was for surgical recovery.)

 The stitches you see on either side came out 2 days later. They just hold the stomach tight against the abdomen wall so the tube itself can stick straight through.

SBMBride406

Oh, gosh, it looks so painful! I really can't imagine....I think Marino is such a handful but I can't imagine going through so much just to feed him. There's so much I take for granted. Does he pull at it?

TriciaJoy

Once the stitches are gone, it looks a lot better. I'll have to take a picture of it now and post it for you.

He doesn't mess with it as long as I keep him dressed. When he's naked, sometimes he plays with it, but not too bad. I know some babies are a good bit rougher than Robbie is and it CAN be pulled out, but so far, we've been lucky. He messes with the tubing that goes into it when he's being fed more than anything. I have to keep his hands busy so he doesn't yank on it.

The think about the MicKey versus another kind is that it's easily replaced. It just has a balloon on the inside that holds it in place. So if it breaks or gets pulled out, I can put a new one in. My insurance (and most, I think) will pay for 1/month.

 Our surgeon recommended getting the insurance to send a new one every month whether we needed it or not, just so we have 2 or 3 onhand because it seems like they dont' break for months, then you'll break 3 in 3 weeks or something.

Overall, it's really not that bad.
I was SUPER resistant to getting the thing beforehand. I hated hated hated the idea of it... but after months of him literally starving, worrying about dehydration etc.. it was such a relief. And you do get used to it.