Hello World!!!
    Welcome to the first ever T.J. Tuesday
    My first week!  

       My name is Troy James Bragg, but you can call me T.J.  This is my family, Mommy (Kimberly) and Daddy (Mickey) and ME!  I was born 2 weeks early on April 24th 2012 at 5:45pm.  I was 20.3 inches long and weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces.  You may be wondering why I'm hooked up to these machines at the hospital instead of at home with Mommy and Daddy. 
      
       It all started on December 29th 2011 (21 weeks pregnant), Uncle Scotts' birthday when the Dr.'s told Mommy and Daddy that they wanted us to see a specialist because my umbilical cord was connected to the side of the sac instead of the middle.  The specialist told us they weren't worried about that too much but noticed they couldn't see my stomach on the ultrasound.  The only way to see the stomach on an ultrasound is to see the fluid we drink inside of our Mommies.  The specialists told Mommy and Daddy that I had Esophogial Atreisa or EA for short.  EA is a condition where the esophogus doesn't develop correctly.  There are about 5 or 6 forms of EA, but mine is one of the rare forms.  My type is called Long Gap EA, that means my esophogus at the top of my throat is very short and doesn't even make it to my chest cavity.  Not good.  Now my esophogus is not just an open tube it's kind of like a pouch at the bottom and everytime I swallow it sits in that pouch.  The bad side to that is when the pouch fills up it can leak into my trachea (windpipe) and give me pnemonia, so the Dr.s at Children's Hospital gave me a repogul tube.  This tube goes in through my mouth and to the bottom of the pouch and sucks all the secretions out like a straw.
      
       Because I don't have a full esophogus the Dr.s also had to give me a G-tube (feeding tube) which was a minor surgery, but what it leaves me with is tube hanging over my bed which is filled with formula or milk and goes directly into my stomach to feed me!  All the other wires just monitor stuff like heart rate, oxygen and temperature.  I do have a PICC line which is like an IV, but is more long term, also the Dr.s think they will be able to take it out soon! Good news.  The only down side is that the Dr.s aren't really sure how long I will have to stay here it could be 2 months or even 9 months or longer!  Only time will tell when my esophogus will grow long enough to reach the other end connected to my stomach for the Dr.s to sew them together so I can finally go home!

       I will keep you up-to-date as much as I can, but definitely post something every Tuesday making this blog a true T.J. Tuesday.  Please leave ideas for pictures/videos you want to see or just leave a comment! I love you, see ME soon!

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Use NICU room 5 for the room number.

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This is me!!!