Owen moved out of the CICU late last night. Unfortunately, his assessment upon arrival on A6 showed that he had a fever. Over the course of the next few hours and early into the morning today, his fever spiked to 103 degrees and his heart rate was racing at 200+ for over forty minutes. They noted that he was having drainage next to the skin from the chest tube site. This in fact affected his respiratory status and caused him to begin having multiple desats. Blood cultures were taken early this morning and revealed that his white blood cell count had shot way up. Although the blood cultures will not be back until sometime on Sunday, the white blood cell count indicates an infection of some type. He started two different IV antibiotics to fight the infection and help keep the fever in check. As of noon today, he no longer has a fever. His IV wouldn’t flush today and had to be removed. The blood vascular team came and put another IV into his right foot. This makes three days in a row that he has had to get a new IV. They told us that this one should work better and last longer since he is receiving medications through it. They are also running fluids through it to keep it working the best they can. This morning when they examined the chest tube area, they could see that the side port was already out of the chest tube. This means that much of the chest tube had already worked its way out. They have decided to put the g-tube surgery on the back burner for now. It is their plan this weekend to figure out more about his effusion and the cause of the high fever. He is having another PICC line put in on Monday sometime after 11 a.m. He’s been extremely uncomfortable and basically inconsolable. After he’s tuckered himself out from crying and thrashing around, then he falls asleep. He’s been hypersensitive since surgery and is waking up frequently. He’s now having heavy retractions while breathing and we are going to have to go down soon to get an x-ray. We’re under a blizzard warning here in Cincinnati. They are expecting 13 inches by noon tomorrow. Please be praying for Owie. We feel so helpless right now. He’s so unhappy and fidgety. We just want him to sleep peacefully and continue healing. Pray for our patience as we wait out these problems. As I’ve mentioned earlier, our stay here in Ohio has definitely been lengthened. Please pray for peace of mind for us. Pray God would have His hands of protection over Owie and send healing to his little body. Thanks everybody for following his progress and supporting us. :)
Owen had a pretty calm night compared to his previous three nights. He got a little overly agitated (wonder why?) and was given extra sedation medication and morphine to help calm him down. Mr. Owie had an EKG done early today because of irregular heart beats. They said he was experiencing premature atrial contractions. This is an extra beat- like an electrical thing within the heart. They are not worried about it and think it could be due to the stitches in that area. The new attending on this week, Dr. Krawzeski, assured me that it wasn’t 2 to 1 AV block like he had previously. It isn’t even something that he needs the pace maker to correct. This is something that the average person even experiences from time to time. Owen had an upper GI done this morning and it revealed that he has normal anatomy. There wasn’t any reflux seen, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there. Right after noon, his vent was turned up to 30 breaths per minute because his CO2 levels hadn’t gone down. The levels didn’t rise, they have just been staying the same. Owen’s x-ray looked clear this morning, though they saw a small amount of fluid on the left lung. However, they think this is something that will clear up on its own. His chest tube is still draining and is now at about 350 mls. The drainage is now yellowish, which is better than having the milky drainage. Tomorrow morning, Owen will have a ph probe put down his nose into his stomach. This will remain in play for a minimum of 24 hours. It is a measuring device that will explain more about his acid reflux. It can the percentage and level of reflux that he is experiencing. This is the best test to predict whether or not the nissen fundoplication is needed. Every indicator at this point is leaning in that direction, but this test will help make the ultimate decision. The nurse is currently putting an ng tube down Owen’s mouth into his stomach and is going to restart feeds here in a few minutes. For the purpose of the ph probe procedure, Owen’s stomach needs to be full. You might remember that he also has an nj tube running into his jejunum that bypasses the stomach to reduce the acid reflux. She’s going to remove the og tube that was running from his mouth into his stomach. It’s been sucking air out of his stomach due to the air leak with his breathing tube. A physical therapist came to work on soft touches with Owen. His neck and shoulders are stiff due to surgery. She said a lot of that area is used while you are breathing and since he’s been struggling at times- tension has built up. She showed me some ways to calm him down and work out that tension. Poor Owen keeps trying to cross his legs, but his IVs on his feet keep knocking together. They still have his arms restrained and I know that is really bothering him when he is awake. I still go over to his bed and hold his hand. He curls his little tiny fingers around my thumb or finger. His squeeze is strong and I think helps us both to get through this difficult time. Every once in a while he opens his eyes, they are just little slits because he’s still swollen and puffy. I look at him and smile and tell him that he is a fighter. More than anything, I tell him that I love him. Every chance I get- before I leave the room or enter the room- I tell him, “Mommy loves you, Owen.” I hate not being able to hold him and snuggle. Scott and I have been rotating shifts- he stays overnight and I’m here most of the day with Owen. Then we’re all three together in the evenings until I head over to the RMH to catch some sleep. Please pray that the doctors get the results they need from the ph probe test to check his acid reflux. Pray for recovery and health for Owen. Pray restoration for his little body. Pray for all the doctors and nurses that make decisions regarding his care. Pray for the hands that touch and care for little Owen. Continue to pray strength and patience for all of us. God bless- Shannon