Abby update

Well, its been another trying Saturday for Abby. We called in this morning to get the update for the evening and were happy to hear that Abby had a good night and was having a good morning as well. In fact, she would be doing great if it weren't for the yeast problem.

So here's what went down:
The doctor that was on today decided to order 2 ultrasounds and one eye exam. The ultrasounds were for the kidneys and the heart. His concern is that all three of these locations are possible sights that the yeast could have spread to. He also mentioned that this was protocol, and to not get too alarmed. He then said he was calling in the doctor that specializes in infectious diseases regarding whether or not to take out the PICC line. Because the yeast has entered the PICC line, the final decision was to take it out. We asked if he knew what kind of yeast it was but he still didn't know and he didn't care so much at this point, because either way, the PICC line was coming out. However, before they could take it out, they needed to find a good place for another IV. It took two nurses FIVE tries before they finally found a vein. Speaking of poking, the RT's (respiratory therapists) were having a hard time drawing blood for their blood gas level tests which means they had to poke our Abby a bunch each time. This also happened a few times today too.

So...Little Abby got poked for the new IV, she got poked for the blood gas, she had the ultrasounds done, and oh yeah, her arm where the IV was placed is in a splint so she won't bend it and screw up the IV. She hates it! Needless to say she was pretty tired from all this. Some positive things to note are that she isn't receiving any back up breaths on the CPAP anymore. She was getting 10 of these each minute. A back breath is basically an extra puff of air on top of the constant flow of air she gets through her nose. Abby has been doing so well in this area that they decided she didn't need the breaths at all. Also, the fact that the yeast culture hasn't grown enough to tell the docs what kind of yeast it might be is a good thing. It tells them it's not a fast, aggressive fungus.

We're still in the waiting stage. We continue to wait and hope that her spinal fluid isn't infected, which as of today it is still negative, and we wait to see how she responds to the medication for the yeast. The sooner the better because we want to get that PICC line back in ASAP. IV's are just a temporary way to give Abby her meds, and they only last a few days. As I mentiomned Abby is a difficult girl to find a good IV sight on; and the catch is that it usually takes a week or so to fight off a yeast infection.

Prayers that Abby will fight this infection fast is on the request tonight!
All our love,
Ryan and Kelly