A little good with the bad

Let's start with the bad news...

Last night our nurse woke Pat and I up to let us know they wanted to do an x-ray of Addy's chest. Her heart rhythms were showing PVC's and they were worried this was caused by the PICC line that was put in. When the doctors came in today they believe it is just because the PICC line is resting on the wrong area so the IV team will be here later to pull it out just a little and see if that resolves the problem.

When the attending doctor, Dr. Kahn (our third Dr. Kahn along our journey) came in for the morning report she told us that Addy's INR (blood clotting) score was up to 8. It had been 7 when we first arrived but then dropped down to 6 yesterday. A normal INR is 0.9-1.3.

Another concern had been her glucose. It was extremely low when we got here (around the 20's) so they have been giving her glucose every 4 hours. This morning it was 80, which is a pretty good level.

There is still some ammonia in her body but the doctors think that is just from her previous GI bleed she had. They are going to put her on Lactulose to help that.

The biggest concern is getting her over the rhinovirus. If a liver would become available, it is a major risk to do the surgery while she has the infection. The anti-rejection drugs that she would be on would cause her immune system to go way down so any infection is detrimental to her.

On to the good news....

They have finally agreed to let her eat! Pat was giving Addy some Pedialite when the doctor was in and she watched how mad Addy got when she was done. She agreed that if Addy kept down the three ounces she took in the morning, the next time she got hungry she could have Pergestamil. So far that has gone really well. She is only taking 4 ounces at a time for now and they have decreased her IV fluid to almost nothing.

Some more good news was that the blood cultures they took yesterday haven't shown anything, so while the bacterial infection may not be completely gone, they are on the right track. We are still waiting on the nasal swab they took to check for the rhinovirus.

We also found out yesterday that Pat and I could be donors for Addy. There is a blood type called A2, which most people don't know because it takes a special screening to find it. Pat and I both got tested yesterday but have not heard the results yet. 

Per some requests here are some pictures of Addy from today. 

Her PICC line

Cuddling with Piglet

Piglet has an IV just like her

Her favorite sleeping position