We're about to head back to the hospital to visit, so I'll try to keep this brief. Overall, today was very frustrating. Lewis is experiencing lots of complications with his recovery. So far today, we haven't been able to make much progress.
During the surgery to insert the PICC line yesterday, Lewis temperature increased some, this is not unusual. Afterwards his temp came down, but not to normal. His temp has fluctuated on the high side of normal since (b/w 37.1 and 37.6 C, after being at 37.8, 37.0 = 98.6 F). At the same time, his stomach continued to swell with air. He is also swollen and retaining fluids - he's gained about 330 g (about 11 oz) over the last day. All the swelling in his abdomen is putting pressure on Lewis' lungs and making it hard for him to fully inflate them, so he's relying more on the ventilator. This leaves us to wonder why the air and fluid aren't escaping and what is causing the increase in temperature.
After the increase in temperature, the NICU did blood and urine cultures to try to figure out the cause of the problems. Lewis' white blood cell count was okay, indicating that there may not be an infection. His red blood cell count (hematocrit) was down, this is a concern, but may well have been caused by the dilution to his blood from all the fluid he's retaining. We won't know about the results of the cultures for a while, but they will tell us if he has an infection, or if the raise in temp is caused by abdominal irritation from the surgery.
We spent most of the day waiting for the surgeon, to see what he wanted to do about the swelling. The surgeon thinks that Lewis' stomach is retaining air because of swelling and the way the g-tube was inserted. He made a minor adjustment to the g-tube and determined that the best course of action was to give it some time to take effect. Hopefully the air will drain out on its own. The surgeon isn't concerned about the other symptoms right now, he thinks they are not unusual following significant abdominal surgery.
The NICU, on the other hand, is keeping a close eye on the fever and blood counts. If those measures get worse, they'll likely do another spinal tap and add another antibiotic (he's on one as a precaution from the surgery), at least.
Hopefully this makes some sense - there is enough uncertainty that is doesn't make sense to go through things in great detail until we know more...
I must tell you how impressed I am with you and Jenn through out this all. I know you do what you have to do, but it must be the hardest thing in the world to have to deal with and you two are fantastic. I know everyone wishes they could do something to help, but from reading all the messages I know that Lewis has all he needs. Clearly he is a fiesty fighter and is very strong in determination.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I didn't get to see you while I was in DC this weekend, but I definitely thought of you. Especially when I went to the Whole Foods on P you took me two a few years back. (at least I think you took me there - or to one very similar) About halfway into the store it hit me like a flashback in a movie.
Hugs and kisses to everyone.
Pam