We woke up to an extremely puffy Bobby. They had tried to start him on oral diuretics, but it didn't work well at all. Bobby looked like he was in a fight and seemed to feel that way too. We had a little scare in the middle of the night when the bulb at the end of his chest tube came off. There was concern that air may have gotten into the chest, but after a chest x-ray at 2:00am, they felt that everything looked good. The physician's assistant who saw Bobby in the morning noticed another clot at the top of the tube. I was pretty discouraged and tired of this darn chest tube. But as the day went on things started looking up. Bobby responded really well to the IV diuretics and looks much less puffy tonight. We spent most of the day in the playroom and Bobby seemed a little more energetic than the day before. The chest tube drainage has slowed considerably (Wed.-800mL drained, Thurs.-250mL drained, Fri-60mL so far). The goal is 100mL or less for 2 days and then the tube can come out. So, we are staying here for the weekend at least. Bobby also has to prove that he can handle oral diuretics before he can go home. We are not sure when they will attempt then again. But to put it in perspective he checked in at 13.4kg. At his highest he was 15.2kg (+4lbs) and today he was at 14.9kg. Extra fluid can make the heart work harder, which is why it is so important to get rid of it. He has also developed a rash that seems to be spreading and may be an allergy to one of the mediciations he is on (but he is on quite a few so it is hard to determine). But the best news of the night is that Bobby found his legs again! Tonight he did laps around the 6th floor. The nurses in the CICU were delighted to see him up and about...such a difference from a week ago. However, trying to keep this 3 year old happy and contained is gonna be difficult. He was already throwing tantrums when he couldn't go down the elevator!
I guess that is the update for now. Specific prayers we need are to stop draining from the chest tube, loss of extra fluid from diuretics, healed chest tube sight, and determining the cause for the rash. Thanks so much!
Rachael
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ok...let the prayers begin. God knows that we have all prayed for pee...let the diuretics work their wonders. I will include the drainage, healing of the chest tube site, and the curing of the rash in my prayers tonight as well.
ReplyDelete