Abby's day started out ok, although she was pretty sure the entire world was against her when we wouldn't let her have a sip of water before her PICC placement. See her "woe is me" pose?!
She got her PICC placed this afternoon. It was quite a spectacle getting her downstairs. It took 3 staff members, and she was even special enough to require a nurse practitioner to accompany us! Apparently, she felt like she still wasn't getting enough attention.
She desatted quite a bit during the procedure and the decision was made that she needed to stay intubated and sedated for the time being. She will stay this way through the night and for her surgery (washout and potential closure) tomorrow. They will not take the breathing tube out in the OR after surgery, because they want to see how she does for a little while before they try to take it out.
She is safe, and the anesthesiologist chose this plan because it's the safest for her. They are hoping this will give her lungs a break and allow them to heal a bit. We are hopeful that the intubation will be short-lived, but we are also prepared for it to stay in longer if needed. She has earned herself her own nurse for a while. All of our nurses have been great, but I'm really thankful for the knowledge and expertise of our nurse tonight. She is totally on the ball.
Some of you may remember the terrible reaction Abby had to prolonged sedation after her jaw distraction surgery, as well as the pancreatitis caused by one of the many medicines. The doctors have been made aware of this and are monitoring everything closely. We are trying not to give her more sedation than absolutely necessary, so she has woken up several times.
I'm staying right beside her bed tonight because she does get agitated and has reached for her tube a few times. If I can calm her and avoid them from having to give her more medicines, I will gladly do it. I won't leave my girl.
Her hemoglobin has fallen even further now, so she will be getting a blood transfusion in a little while. This will make her OR time tomorrow safer as well. She's also getting some potassium because that has become pretty low and can affect the heart.
Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep them up! Our girl is in need of many. We are beyond thankful to God that Abby got to CHOP when she did before this got even worse.
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