The PICC line is in!!

WAHOO!! After 5-6 attempts to put in a PICC line (2 yesterday, and I think 3 today if not 4), the line is in! I have to admit it was kind of interesting to watch them do it. Our friend, Holly, was there to admin the anesthesia along with Dr. Thomas. The nurse putting in the PICC line had some issues along the way-finding a vein to do the trick & the line hitting a point and kinking again were the 2 major ones. Finally she went above the anticube (found in the inside fold of your elbow), and found a vein that worked. I felt grateful she didn't give up on Jordan's right arm since she is left handed. We've noticed with the IV in her left hand, Jordan doesn't really use it! It might as well be broken :-) And getting her to eat and drink with her right hand is quite funny. Try it with your opposite hand!


After Jordan woke up from her procedure, she was a happy child. Guess what she asked for 1st! FOOD! This girl hasn't really been eating well the last few days and now BOOM! She wants to eat EVERYTHING :-) She also got Jeremy to walk all over and ride the elevators when I went home to get the boys. Do you think she even had a nap today? NOPE! She was going strong until 7 when Jeremy took the boys home. Then she crashed and has been out ever since.


Jordan's blood culture is still negative which is a huge relief. When we first thought she had an infection, Trudy prepared us with at least a 3 day stay to see if the culture would grow out. It did within 24 hours. Less than 24 hours after the 2nd culture, the docs claimed it was negative and was ready to put in the line. Wait a minute...doesn't it take 48 hours for it to grow out? The big thing with putting in the line while her blood is still infected is that the bacteria could attack or sit on this foreign body! With that SO CLOSE to her heart, I was really worried about the timing. Maybe God heard me and is why we didn't get it in until today :-)


Also-Her white blood counts are now 7,000 instead of the 37,000 which is where it was originally. The can also test the inflammation which was 17 (I guess this is high?) and was worried that the infection had also spread to her breastbone. It is now 3. They will send kids home when it is 2 or below so MAYBE we could be sleeping in our own beds tomorrow night!


Now to learn about this IV treatments! We picked a home health care company that will teach us how to do it before we leave the hospital. Today, a nurse explained how to flush and hep lock an IV. Oh am I glad that Jeremy will be there to teach me at first! By the end of this, I'm sure I'll be a pro :-) 4-6 weeks every 6 hours!? That's A LOT of treatments! Dr. Edens, Dr. Scholz, and Dr. Gomez are all looking at the longer time (6 weeks) due to the possibility of the bone infection. Sad thing is Jordan may not be able to go back to preschool during this time because of trying to keep her calm and not get too rough with the PICC line in-she's 3. That in and of itself could be a challenge!!


We have our endo appointment tomorrow too. Who knew we would be here already anyway! Dr. Edens said that we could probably just head down to the clinic or reschedule it. It took us 6 MONTHS to get this appointment!! We are NOT going to reschedule unless ABSOLUTELY necessary! They have already started some of the testing with testing her growth hormone (and whether or not she is deficient) and took x-rays of her hands to check her growth plates, etc. We'll hopefully find out more tomorrow.


Thanks again for all the prayers and good thoughts!! There are times I get overwhelmed with gratitude when I think about everyone who has helped us in some way or another. The prayers, meals, visits and emails checking in on us has been a blessing!

Later!
Tracey

**Jeremy took his laptop home today so I wasn't able to load pics :-) Those I hope will come tomorrow!