I cut back to one posting a day for the weekend because Will is doing so well and what does he do in response? Gets an infection. After a great Friday and Saturday that capped a pretty great week overall, Will's oxygen needs were up Sunday and he was having more problems digesting his breastmilk. Nothing too alarming it seemed; even the doctors were taking a wait-and-see stance because all of his other stats were normal.
Overnight, however, his oxygen needs increased dramatically, and that coupled with the digestion problems and his irritability led them to believe that he has another infection. We found out thanks to a 4:30 a.m. phone call from the NICU so they could let us know they had put him back on antibiotics and had increased his ventilator pressures significantly. They told us not to come in, as he was doing better by the time they called, and there wasn't anything we could do for him. It's hard to get a call like that, but we're glad they do so to keep us updated on his condition.
I had to be up early to go talk on the radio about a big feature our paper put out this week, so there wasn't much sleep to be had between 4:30 and 6 when I got up. I showered quick, got dressed and headed over to see him before going to the station, and he seemed better. His oxygen needs were back to what they had been when we'd left just hours before last night, and the pressures on the ventilator, while up from where they'd been when we left, were down considerably from where they had been in the early morning hours. He was puffier again -- his new record weight of 944 grams won't last -- and was getting a blood transfusion to go with everything else. The middle-of-the-night phone call from the NICU had us fearing the worst, but he seemed to be doing OK by the time I left.
The other two times they have feared an infection, he has responded really well to the antibiotics (vancomycin, gentamicin and pipericallin-tazobact for those keeping track at home) and recovered quickly, and we hope for a similar result this time. He has made so much progress just since his surgery 11 days ago, and we don't want to see that derailed for too long. Still, after a week in which there has been much talk about the next stage of treatment for Will and a slight slackening in the anxiety over his condition, it was a good reminder that he's the boss, and he's doing this according to his own schedule.
Overnight, however, his oxygen needs increased dramatically, and that coupled with the digestion problems and his irritability led them to believe that he has another infection. We found out thanks to a 4:30 a.m. phone call from the NICU so they could let us know they had put him back on antibiotics and had increased his ventilator pressures significantly. They told us not to come in, as he was doing better by the time they called, and there wasn't anything we could do for him. It's hard to get a call like that, but we're glad they do so to keep us updated on his condition.
I had to be up early to go talk on the radio about a big feature our paper put out this week, so there wasn't much sleep to be had between 4:30 and 6 when I got up. I showered quick, got dressed and headed over to see him before going to the station, and he seemed better. His oxygen needs were back to what they had been when we'd left just hours before last night, and the pressures on the ventilator, while up from where they'd been when we left, were down considerably from where they had been in the early morning hours. He was puffier again -- his new record weight of 944 grams won't last -- and was getting a blood transfusion to go with everything else. The middle-of-the-night phone call from the NICU had us fearing the worst, but he seemed to be doing OK by the time I left.
The other two times they have feared an infection, he has responded really well to the antibiotics (vancomycin, gentamicin and pipericallin-tazobact for those keeping track at home) and recovered quickly, and we hope for a similar result this time. He has made so much progress just since his surgery 11 days ago, and we don't want to see that derailed for too long. Still, after a week in which there has been much talk about the next stage of treatment for Will and a slight slackening in the anxiety over his condition, it was a good reminder that he's the boss, and he's doing this according to his own schedule.
posted by John Kenyon at 9:33 AM
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