3/27/06

Nova, getting some "Big Daddy" lovin'!

Well, they reinserted a couple of chest tubes to drain the fluid that showed up on CT Scan from his chest this afternoon. They did that at about 4:30 I think. At 6, they had drained 100 mls each. That's a total of nearly 7 ounces. That's a lot of fluid, especially for a little guy. But it made an immediate difference in his sats - they were higher and steadier than they had been for days. His blood pressure and heart rate went down a bit too - they'd been a little high. His fluid intake/output was finally in the negatives (for the first time in at least 3 days.) And it might have been just wishful thinking, but I think he looked just a little less swollen. It might havce been my imagination, I don't know. But I do know that his pulses were easier to find in his extremities, and his hands were nice and warm for a change. His feet are still cool, but not cold like before.

He's gone down from 10 to 4.5 on his Dopamine, and they'll continue to wean it down. He's off the Fentanyl - they put him on Morphine instead. And he only had to have the paralytic once today - it's been pretty constant for days now, so that was nice, to see him move around a little.

They fiddled with his antibiotics again, and called in the Infectious Disease docs, because they're experts at figuring out what infections are what, and how to best treat them. The fact that Nova only has one central line is really hindering their ability to treat him - not all meds are compatible, so some things just can't go in the same line as some others, so it's complicated.

We talked to Dr. Timmons today. He (and the nurse Ricardo) said that they think that getting that fluid off Nova's chest will be the first step in the right direction, and that this should really get us on the road to recovery. Dr. Timmons is so nice, and so willing to answer questions, and so friendly, and he smiles a LOT, which just feels good. Excellent bedside manner. He gets an A+ in my book.

A few weeks ago, the child beside Nova was 3 years old, his name was Aiden - he's the one we gave the Photocuddler to. Well, he went home a week or so ago, and we found out a couple days ago that he'd gotten an infection and had to go back into the hospital and have surgery again. Well, I can't legally be told where he was, so I had to wait until we ran into the parents, which we did finally last night. They're on a different floor than we are now, so they wait in a different waiting room. She told us we should come up there to wait, so tonight we did.

I adore her, and her husband is an absolute HOOT! I love them, and will probably spend more time with them. They had a hell of a scare with their little boy. She's so sweet, so compassionate about the other parent's situations. I just want to hug her lol.

Yeah, I've become quite the hugger lately. lol. Not normally how I am really, unless I really feel a connection you know? I guess I just really feel connected to all these people who've come into my life at this point.

Anyway, I need to go to bed. Lately sleep has decided that it only comes between 3am and 9am, and I've just GOT to get myself straightened out. So, goodnight folks.