Going Home, We think?

Last night they informed us that the sedation people who gives the meds to put her out while they place the PICC line aren't in on Sundays. So, we could either wait until Monday or they could just numb the area and distract her with music therapy. Kally was really nervous about it anyway and didn't want to do it while she was awake and I didn't really want her to either because of the experience we had with Kylee last year. http://ksmithklan.blogspot.com/2008/05/picc-line.html

We were kind of bummed about that, because we were hoping to get home today. They also noticed her foot was really red at one point last night. The docs came to check it out and said that it was most likely because the meds were finally killing the bacteria. It went away after a couple of hours.

Here are some pics where you can see how swollen her foot is.



Kally also said her back hurt and complained of it being hard to breath. They put the monitors on to watch her breathing. They also took a urine sample to make sure the meds were not affecting her kidneys and gave her a hot pack to put on her back.

They also had to put in another new IV. Apparently the antibiotics they are giving her can eat away at the veins, so they dilute them and inject them very slowly. The current IV started to hurt and sting when they were flushing it, and that was a sign that they needed a new IV. This actually made her third IV.

They told her they take her off the liquids in her IV if she would drink a bunch. She was all about that because then she would have to pull the IV pole around. They brought her a mug of water and she drank two of them that evening. Needless to say, she had to get up to use the bathroom a lot. But she could do it herself and she was glad about that. She would unhook the other cords herself, climb off the bed, and hop to the bathroom. We would ask if she needed help, but she always said "no".

Klay and Kortney stayed with her while I left for a while to have dinner with some friends. I felt guilting leaving her, but it was nice to get out for a while. I had a gut full of laughs while I was out!!!

I came back and stayed the night with Kally while Kortney and Klay went home. Kami and Kylee went to my parents house for the night. Kally watched TV until 2:30 in the morning before I told her it was sleep time. I guess she had taken a late nap while I was gone so she wasn't tired. Of course, once the TV was turned off, she was out pretty quickly.

We also had several visitors today and that was very nice.

Friday - Several doctors and nurses came in to check on her. They said that they might be able to find someone to come do the sedation, so they didn't want her to eat until they found out for sure. At 11am they came and said that they found someone and they were going to come get started right now. I could tell Kally was nervous. She asked me, "are you sure that I am going to be asleep?"

12 noon - They came to get setup and started the PICC line procedure.



Once they gave her the sadation meds through her IV, it only took a few minutes for her to "zone out" you could say. Her eyes open, but not with us. She had her eyes slightly open the whole time and they would tell her what they were doing, but she didn't react to anything (which is what they expected and wanted). The meds are supposed to also affect her memory so that she doesn't remember any of this.

12:20 - They called to have someone come up to do a digital xray so they could make sure the tube was in the right place.

12:25 - They started taking about this one not working and they had to switched arms. They said that when they started the tube into her vein it went out through the otherside of the vein instead of sliding into it. They moved everything to the other side to start on her other arm. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed in here with her, it makes me want to cry. She still out of it, but she just had a tear run down her cheek.

At 12:45 they called xray again and they said it is all placed. After xrays show that it is for sure in the right spot, they will place a couple of stitches on the outside of her arm to keep it in the right location.

1pm - The PICC line is in. She is very out of it. She did really well with the procedure. Once she started to respond to our voices, she was very confused and said she was cross eyed. The nurse told her it was the medicine doing it and suggested she close her eyes. She squose them shut really tight. I was sitting on the side of the bed holding her hand so I rubbed her eyes and told her she didn't have to squeeze them tight, she could just relax them. She did and now is asleep.

Klay and Kortney are here now too.

They are getting discharge papers ready so we can go home.

The Infectious Disease (ID) docs came to explain the plan. They said that the infection is a staff bacteria. There is really no way to know what caused it or prevent it. (This is the same type of thing Klay had years ago on his face when he was hospitalized.) They are going to put her on a continuous flow medication, so she will constantly be getting the meds. She'll have a little backback thing she has to carry around with her. She has to take them for 4 weeks with now strenuous activity. But she should be able to go to school in a couple of days. We'll see.