About 10:00 this morning we found a new edition to our family. Here is a photo of what has been implanted into Noelle's stomach. The bulb part is actually in her stomach, the valve sits on top of her skin and, starting tomorrow morning we will be feeding her through this port as well as regular feedings.
Additionally she had a bronchoscopy and bronchial lavage. The bronchoscopy was in response to somethings grown in her throat culture (Pseudomonas), the lavage was to wash her lungs down. The Pulmonologist who did the bronch. said her lungs looked "surprisingly good, all things considered. We saw pictures and I have to agree. Not nearly as much mucous in there as in Tenille's. Because she had pseudomonas on a throat culture she will be going home on IV antibiotics so they also placed a long term IV (PICC line) today. They are saying she will likely be on 2 antibiotics for 10 - 14 days, Tobramycin & Cefipime. Tobramycin is known for toxicity to the ears so she will be getting regular blood draws to monitor 'Tobra' levels. The good news is that these levels can be drawn off her PICC.
Housekeeping:
Some of my readers are medical and some are not if you are the not I want to educate you cuz I'm lazy in my writings.
G-tube stands for gastrostomy tube, named for the point of entry (gastric-Latin)
PICC stands for Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter so called because it is inserted in the arm and is threaded to nearly the heart, incorrect placement can cause abnormal heart rhythms.
WBC- white blood cell count
Ototoxicity- in medicine we combine prefixes and suffixes to make new words. Oto is Latin for ear, toxicity is level of toxic stuff.
PFT's - pulmonary function tests. CFer's live and die by their PFT's Tenille's usually running 80-85%, Adam is younger and less efficient at participating in the testing so his numbers are lower however this is most likely due to him not quite knowing how to follow the directions. Noelle has not been tested because to test in most children under 4 the child must be sedated and then put in a box which somehow measures her lung function. I'm not yet sold on the idea.
Abx is an abbreviation for antibiotics.
1 comment:
What a trooper (you and Noelle!) I hope she feels better soon. We're only a few miles away- don't hesitate to call if you need dinner, a sitter, or anything!
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