Still in the Hospital

Last week after Caeden's initial fever he started to get better and was doing really well. The blood cultures that they drew on Monday 02/15 took until Friday 02/19 to show a bacteria called micrococcus growing. There was also another type of bacteria that grew from that culture but we do not know the name of that bacteria. Therefore, it confirmed that Caeden had a central line infection. The Doctors put him on an antibiotic called vancomycin to get rid of the infection. He was also put on another antiobiotic call cephalexin. We were going to be released from the hospital Friday morning (02/26) because then he would have finished a full 10 day treatment of antibiotics.

Caeden had a visit from his grandparents on Thursday (02/25) evening and was doing good until right before the grandparents left. He seemed warm so we checked his temperature and he had a fever. We informed the nurses and then put a cold cloth on his forehead to see if that would help reduce his fever. Caeden was given Tylenol around 8 pm to help with the fever but that didn't help at all. He was very fussy and then we noticed that he started to shake and quiver so we notified the nurse. The nurse was calm but seemed concerned when we told her that so she left the room to call the pediatrician that was on call. The pediatrician showed up very soon after that to check him out. Caeden's heart rate was elevated and was in the 220's where the normal range should be about 140. His blood pressure was high and also his pulse rate. The pediatrician ordered the nurse to bring in a couple bags of fluid to give him right away. Then the pediatrician walked out without saying anything. The nurse informed us that they called the rapid response team from the PICU(Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). In a matter of about 5 minutes we had 9 people in our room. It consisted of nurses, charge nurses, and the attending physician and resident physician.

Denae and I realized how serious this was and how sick Caeden was. Caeden's temperature was over 103 degrees and he had a look that they call modeled. This means that his color has changed and that his veins are very evident. They gave Caeden 80 cc of fluid directly into his broviac thru an enormous syringe. The attending physician said if his condition didn't improve very quickly then they were going to move us down to the intensive care unit. They gave Caeden more Tylenol as well and also put him on a different antibiotic. The concern was that he had a yeast/fungus infection. They drew another blood culture as well. His condition improved but it took awhile for his fever to break. This was one of the scariest things that Denae and I have ever been through.

Thankfully, Caeden has been doing well since then and hasn't had another fever. He has slowly been getting back to his normal eating consumption. The blood cultures so far have come out negative. The Doctor's are considering removing his central line due to the infections he has gotten but are weighing the pros and cons of this. If the culture ends up showing a yeast/fungus infection then they will definately remove his central line because it is too dangerous to leave it in.

Back in the Hospital

Monday morning at 3:30 a.m. Caeden woke up because he was hungry and when Denae picked Caeden up he felt really warm. Denae took Caeden's temperature and it was 103 degrees. Denae still fed Caeden and then woke me up to tell me. Caeden was bundled up all night so we thought that maybe he was warm because of that (wishful thinking). Therefore, we took the blanket off and unzipped his outfit to see if his temperature would go down. However, that didn't help so we decided to head to the emergency room at UNMH.

We arrived at the emergency room and were seen right away. They took blood from his broviac and also poked him and took blood from his hand while putting an IV in. Then they did a chest X-ray and a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. Both of the blood cultures take 24 hours for an initial report to see if bacteria grows and a full 72 hours for a full report. They were trying to get us a room in the general pediatrics department but the hospital was packed. This resulted in us being in the ER for 14 hours while waiting for a room. Finally, we were transferred to a room at 10:30 pm.

Caeden has been put on a stronger antiobiotic than what we were giving him at home. The first report on the blood culture was negative which was great news. However, at 2:30 this morning the nurse informed us that the blood culture from Caeden's Broviac came back positive and he has an infection which was what caused the fever. He has a staff infection in his central line.

We spoke with Dr. Mcloughlin this morning and she said that she needs to give the blood culture another 24 hours to see exactly what kind of bacteria grows so that she can narrow the infection down to something specific. Once she knows this information she will know how to treat the infection. We will probably be in the hospital for at least another couple of days but it is hard to know the extent of our stay at this point.

Caeden has been doing really well since his last fever. He has been eating very well and has been smiling and talking a bunch. He is a pretty resilient little guy.

Caeden at Home

Well, it has been awhile since we have posted but we have been trying to get settled back at home. We now have a home care nurse that comes once a week to change Caeden's cap on his Broviac and also the dressing (tape & gauze) around the tube where it enters through his chest.

Denae has to give Caeden quite a few different types of medicine throughout the day. He has a total of 5 medicines that we have to give him. One of the medicines has to be given 4 times a day and a couple of the others are twice a day. Denae has been very good at administering these medicines. It has been a challenge for her due to the fact that she has to do it by herself during the day because I am at work.

We have seen Dr. Mcloughlin (GI) and Dr. Lemon (Surgeon) since we have been out of the hospital. They were both very satisfied and happy with Caeden's recovery. They took blood at our appointment and we found out after wards from the nurse that his bilirubin levels have come down drastically and now are in the normal range. The only concern from Dr. Mcloughlin was Caeden's weight. Caeden had not gained any weight since leaving the hospital. His weight just before we left the hospital was 8lbs 5oz. However, Denae went to the pediatrician today and his weight as of today was 9lbs 1oz. This was great news and means that we shouldn't need to supplement his diet at all with formula.

We go back to Dr. Mcloughlin next Wednesday and will keep everyone updated on his progress.