Our day got off to quite the eventful start. I woke up around 6:00 a.m. to the sounds of Ethan crying and found our nurse hunched over his crib. Apparently, he had blown a diaper (thank you, antibiotics) and she was trying her best to change it with her itty-bitty flashlight, without waking him up. He doesn't really sleep through any of that anymore, though, and he was NOT happy about being awake. Bless her heart, she was trying.
She spent the next hour in our room as we progressed from getting him completely undressed, to changing his diaper, to wiping him down from (literally) head to toe, to re-dressing him, to changing his sheets.
Somewhere in there, between undressing him and re-dressing him, she had to unhook the tubing from his PICC so we could get his clothes on and off. In the few seconds it was detached, the line managed to clot off. At first we thought it was just positioned funny, so she and another nurse tried a few different things, to no avail. It was gone.
If you've spent enough time in the hospital, as many of you have, you're probably cringing right now. Losing a line is NOT fun, especially if it's the only one, and it has the ability to turn just about any day into a bad one. Images of the IV team rushing in to start another IV filled my mind.
About that time, I remembered what a doctor had told us last night once we got back from the OR. "It's likely we're going to switch Ethan over to by-mouth antibiotics.", she said. As I recalled that conversation, I breathed a sigh of relief and said something along the lines of "Well, let's just pull the thing out and send us home!" At that point, losing the PICC wasn't such a big deal. We no longer had a need to go home with it, thankfully, and it just may have been our ticket out of here.
Yeah, not so much.
Once the doctors rounded this morning, they decided that we would be staying a few extra days. The surgeons would like to take Ethan back into the OR on Thursday to basically do the same thing they did yesterday. They want to get one last, good look at everything and re-wrap his hand in a way that will be a little more convenient. At this point, I don't think we could put him in his car seat and go home, anyway, so I'm more than OK with the plan.
I am a little nervous about him receiving sedation for the 3rd time in 1 week, but he's done so well with it up to this point. I'm praying that will remain the same for Thursday and that the procedure will be as quick and painless as it was yesterday.
(FYI -- many of you have asked details about the bone infection. It's called osteomyelitis and all the blood-work is showing that we literally caught in just in time. Also, the results from surgical pathology, where they sent Ethan's amputated finger, tell us that all of the infection was removed from the bone! Is God good, or what?!)
She spent the next hour in our room as we progressed from getting him completely undressed, to changing his diaper, to wiping him down from (literally) head to toe, to re-dressing him, to changing his sheets.
Somewhere in there, between undressing him and re-dressing him, she had to unhook the tubing from his PICC so we could get his clothes on and off. In the few seconds it was detached, the line managed to clot off. At first we thought it was just positioned funny, so she and another nurse tried a few different things, to no avail. It was gone.
If you've spent enough time in the hospital, as many of you have, you're probably cringing right now. Losing a line is NOT fun, especially if it's the only one, and it has the ability to turn just about any day into a bad one. Images of the IV team rushing in to start another IV filled my mind.
About that time, I remembered what a doctor had told us last night once we got back from the OR. "It's likely we're going to switch Ethan over to by-mouth antibiotics.", she said. As I recalled that conversation, I breathed a sigh of relief and said something along the lines of "Well, let's just pull the thing out and send us home!" At that point, losing the PICC wasn't such a big deal. We no longer had a need to go home with it, thankfully, and it just may have been our ticket out of here.
Yeah, not so much.
Once the doctors rounded this morning, they decided that we would be staying a few extra days. The surgeons would like to take Ethan back into the OR on Thursday to basically do the same thing they did yesterday. They want to get one last, good look at everything and re-wrap his hand in a way that will be a little more convenient. At this point, I don't think we could put him in his car seat and go home, anyway, so I'm more than OK with the plan.
I am a little nervous about him receiving sedation for the 3rd time in 1 week, but he's done so well with it up to this point. I'm praying that will remain the same for Thursday and that the procedure will be as quick and painless as it was yesterday.
(FYI -- many of you have asked details about the bone infection. It's called osteomyelitis and all the blood-work is showing that we literally caught in just in time. Also, the results from surgical pathology, where they sent Ethan's amputated finger, tell us that all of the infection was removed from the bone! Is God good, or what?!)
I managed to escape the hospital for a couple of hours this morning to run home and get some more clothes. I took a shower while I was there, and even managed to put on some real clothes and fix my hair. It's amazing how much better I feel just after taking a shower in my own home.
Tonight, I'll be going to a family care dinner that's hosted by the 5th floor social workers. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with people who have become dear friends, as well as meeting new ones!
Feel free to come visit if you're in the area. At best, we'll go home Thursday evening...Friday afternoon, at worst. Jeramie is probably going back to work tomorrow, so I'd be more than happy to have some company up here during the day!
Thanks for everything y'all have done for us in the past week. Your love and prayers fill our hearts with unspeakable joy.
Tonight, I'll be going to a family care dinner that's hosted by the 5th floor social workers. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with people who have become dear friends, as well as meeting new ones!
Feel free to come visit if you're in the area. At best, we'll go home Thursday evening...Friday afternoon, at worst. Jeramie is probably going back to work tomorrow, so I'd be more than happy to have some company up here during the day!
Thanks for everything y'all have done for us in the past week. Your love and prayers fill our hearts with unspeakable joy.
1 comment:
Oh wow. Things did get a bit crazy for you. Saying lots of prayers that things settle down again and you can go home very soon!
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