Life Support

Averi received a couple of platelet transfusions and more fluids which helped her vitals return to normal and her acidity level is up to 7.32, a drastic improvement from yesterday.  They also started her on lasix to hopefully help drain most of the excess fluid from all over her body.  I had to hold her up this afternoon while they changed her bedding and she was definitely heavier with all the excess fluid.  She is so pumped full of fluid, in fact, that her tongue won't even stay in her mouth and you couldn't pry open her eyes if you wanted to.

(She's so swollen that Tiffany said she thought she walked into the wrong room the first time she saw her.)

The preliminary results came back from the lab and they found three different bacteria growing from the cultures they took from her broviac.  They found “pseudo-like” gram negative rods (which my bet will be Pseudomonas aeruginosa), a non-lactose fermenting gram negative bacteria, and probable Enterococcus gram positive bacteria.  That would explain why she is sicker this time and why she is taking longer to recover than the last two visits to the PICU.

The bacteria only grew from the cultures taken from her broviac; her arterial line was clear.  That confirms what the physicians suspected and Averi will have her broviac taken out tomorrow.  They will put in a temporary PICC line until the infection clears up.  Then they will most likely insert another broviac so we can continue her chemotherapy.

Averi is a fighter.  That is a known fact.  In fact, she is such a fighter the physicians were concerned she was expending too much energy combating the breathing tube instead of letting it help her.  The decision was made to administer Vecuronium.  For those who don’t know, Vecuronium is a muscle relaxant, or more commonly referred to as a paralytic agent.  They pumped her full of pain medication and sedatives and then she was medically paralyzed, which means she can’t even breathe on her own.  Poor Averi will not be responsive for several days until the infection has been cleared from her body.

That said, a harsh reality hit me today.  My daughter is now completely reliant on the machines to keep her alive. 
Daddy’s little girl is on life support.

I pray constantly that my little girl will pull through.  She is such a light in our family and a joy to have around.  It pains me to see her suffer.  It pains me to think there is nothing I can do to help her.  I love her.  Tiffany loves her.  Kaili loves her.  And we pray she will get better and come home soon.  She is our life support.

Who doesn't love someone like Averi when she has such a contagious smile? 

~ Dan