It's 12:30 Sunday morning, March 16, 2014. We've been in the hospital for 12 days. Yesterday I finally heard from the infectious disease specialists about the length of treatment for Adam. It will be a total of 14 days from the start of the specific antibiotic needed to treat klebsiella pneumonae. 14 days! Amazing! We were originally told it would be 4-6 weeks. The last 3 samples of cerebral spinal fluid were clear of any sign of bacteria, and the white count has continued to drop. We have a move of God in my humble opinion. The neurosurgeon will make the call in the next few days regarding when Adam will be able to go home. It will depend on how Adam feels and whether everything is going smoothly with his new shunt system.
Thursday Adam had issues with his heart rate all day and overnight.(up to 161 beats per minute when up and walking) I asked for a cardiac consult as I was concerned that the extremely high rate would negatively impact him going for the final surgery, and the neurosurgery team agreed. I didn't want him to be at risk of not going to the operating room. I wasn't worried that there was anything wrong with his heart as he was seen by a cardiologist in October when he was admitted for shunt issues. He had been going between bradycardia (extremely slow rate) and tachycardia(extremely fast rate); it was determined that the problem was because his shunt had failed and his intra-cranial pressure was too high and was causing the fluctuations. Anyway, the cardiologist came in and ordered blood work, and later ordered more blood work, an echocardiogram, and a Doppler study of the veins and arteries in his legs to rule out a possible blot clot as the cause of the tachycardia. The lab work was done overnight and the other tests were done in the morning and Adam was cleared for surgery. The determination was that he was probably dehydrated.
Adam's surgery to internalize his shunt took place on Friday. Everything went very smoothly, and all the hardware needed to keep him safe and his brain free of excessive pressure was put back in. He was so tired from his ordeal of the previous three days that he slept in recovery for five hours! Every time the nurse or I woke him up, he refused to stay awake until about seven thirty p.m. That ran into shift change time, so we had to wait.. We got back to his room around nine o'clock that night.
Adam's PICC line is working well, he feels and looks better, and he will probably go home on Monday or Tuesday. I will need to give him antibiotics through the PICC line for just a few days. I am breathing big sighs of relief. There is no swelling around the shunt wounds, except for what is normal after surgery. He is uncomfortable, but that is also normal and his pain is well controlled with the prescribed medications.
Thank you Father for giving me peace and strength. Thank you for taking care of Adam. Thank you for all the prayers and the pray-ers around the country who have so faithfully held Adam before you. And thank you that you always stop by. You are good.
Thursday Adam had issues with his heart rate all day and overnight.(up to 161 beats per minute when up and walking) I asked for a cardiac consult as I was concerned that the extremely high rate would negatively impact him going for the final surgery, and the neurosurgery team agreed. I didn't want him to be at risk of not going to the operating room. I wasn't worried that there was anything wrong with his heart as he was seen by a cardiologist in October when he was admitted for shunt issues. He had been going between bradycardia (extremely slow rate) and tachycardia(extremely fast rate); it was determined that the problem was because his shunt had failed and his intra-cranial pressure was too high and was causing the fluctuations. Anyway, the cardiologist came in and ordered blood work, and later ordered more blood work, an echocardiogram, and a Doppler study of the veins and arteries in his legs to rule out a possible blot clot as the cause of the tachycardia. The lab work was done overnight and the other tests were done in the morning and Adam was cleared for surgery. The determination was that he was probably dehydrated.
Adam's surgery to internalize his shunt took place on Friday. Everything went very smoothly, and all the hardware needed to keep him safe and his brain free of excessive pressure was put back in. He was so tired from his ordeal of the previous three days that he slept in recovery for five hours! Every time the nurse or I woke him up, he refused to stay awake until about seven thirty p.m. That ran into shift change time, so we had to wait.. We got back to his room around nine o'clock that night.
Adam's PICC line is working well, he feels and looks better, and he will probably go home on Monday or Tuesday. I will need to give him antibiotics through the PICC line for just a few days. I am breathing big sighs of relief. There is no swelling around the shunt wounds, except for what is normal after surgery. He is uncomfortable, but that is also normal and his pain is well controlled with the prescribed medications.
Thank you Father for giving me peace and strength. Thank you for taking care of Adam. Thank you for all the prayers and the pray-ers around the country who have so faithfully held Adam before you. And thank you that you always stop by. You are good.
No comments:
Post a Comment