Carter Bradford Schanz: Diagnosis

Casey and I went back to our room in the hospital and waited to hear from the Surgeons. Finally the call came, they wanted to talk with us in person. They told us that Carter had no small intestines, and only 1/4 of his large intestines. His intestinal track stopped right after the duodenum and then began again in the large intestine. They would be able to connect thetwo ends together so that Carter would be able to eat. This could have been caused by a few things: Mal rotation or a blood clot, but the doctors weren't sure what would cause such extensive damage. They then presented us with many different options of how to care for Carter. This would prove to be one of the hardest decisions Casey and I would have to make.
Carter would be able to eat but he wouldn't get any nutrition from it. When he came out of surgery he would be on a ventilator, and have an IV into his heart, called a Broviac. Through the Broviac he would be able to receive the nutrition he needed to survive, called TPN, but this could not be a long-term solution. Ultimately, we had to decide how and when Carter would die.