Not much.

Ella is now bulking up to 3 lbs 12 oz.

Still on the nose canula , without much reduction in flow since the last update. She has stabilized a bit, and with fewer "incidents" of low oxygen.

She had an eye exam, which so far shows no sign of ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity), but her eyes are still immature - she will need another exam in two weeks.

Also, she had a lower GI study to check to make sure that her large intestine has healed any previous perforation in preparation for surgery. This involved injecting a dye into her rear hole and taking a series of time-delayed x-rays. Pretty cool actually - it shows how the dye progresses up through the system. Good news, no leaks were found and her lower GI looks in fairly good condition. Green light for surgery.

Feedings have been up and down for the last week. Doctors have switched her to a broken-down formula (Neocate), and have changed up the schedule several times. Sometimes she digests her dinner, sometimes not - it gets sucked back into the feeding tube when checked by the nurses.

Her re-connection surgery is quickly approaching - this wednesday Aug 19th. We have talked to the surgeon (Dr Lee) and his team - they feel that her re-connection should help to address her digestion issues. Could be a twist in her intestine or some scar tissue from the previous surgery that is interfering. Depending on what he finds during the surgery, it could take between 1 1/2 to 4 hours. The bad part about surgery - she will be stressed and medicated, NPO (nothing by mouth ) for 2 weeks and will need to go back onto the ventillator for a while. Hopefully she will recover quickly and will get off the ventillator and will be able to feed soooon. Fingers crossed - she can come home by mid-september.

Love - Bill Denise Ella T.