PICC Line

So when I called early this morning to hear how Brandt's night had been, the nurse let me know she'd found a small hole in the tubing of his IV. Once they changed that out, they felt he was quieting better with the sedation medications. They also let us know that his white blood count had been quite elevated at 20, but had come down to 11 already with the combination of the IV antibiotics and cleaning everything out. This indicated that whatever strain of infection was present, at least it was responding to the treatment.

They also had stopped his feeds again and were going to give more sedation to complete a procedure in the cath lab...needed to place a PICC line in his arm. They explained that high-powered antibiotics given over an extended period of time really do better with this more permanent stable IV in place. The other IVs wear out every couple days and also did not allow for blood draws. They have to check his blood periodically for different numbers, including one indicator of how much antibiotic is actually being absorbed by the body. His number started out a little low, so they were increasing the antibiotic dosage. But the PICC line also would make it so they didn't have to stick him every time they needed to take more blood.

He tolerated the PICC procedure well, but no surprise here, needed a blood transfusion shortly after. Each time he's had any kind of a major procedure his hematocrit has dropped, and they figured this time it was a combination of the wound cleaning, blood draws, and PICC procedure. He continued very uncomfortable with the vent...he has never had a problem breathing over it, and you can't explain to a 7-mos old baby that it's for his good.