Showing posts with label ROP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ROP. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

2/13/07: Day 214 (Tues.) Seeing the Eye Doc

Evan had his follow-up appointment in Tucson with Dr. Miller. He's the pediatric ophthalmologist who checked performed his eye exam when he was in the NICU. The medical assistant first used drops to dilate his eyes. We didn't see Dr. Miller until about 30-40 minutes later (I guess the rain made everyone late).

His exam took about 10 minutes and Evan did great. Dr. Miller used a little magnifying lens and checked the back of his eye. He was able to determine that Evan is far-sighted right now, but not to worry. Since he doesn't have any cross-eye or lazy-eye problems, he expects Evan to end up being near-sighted just like his parents! He still is officially diagnosed with ROP, but is expected to grow out of it.
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Chronological age: 30 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 months, 4 weeks and 0 days
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Friday, August 18, 2006

Timeline

In case you haven't been reading all the postings...this will get you caught up:

August 18 (Day 35): PIC line removed; off the IV; up to full feeds with gavage
August 15 (Day 32): Passed hearing test; had ROP test done
August 13 (Day 30): CPAP removed; put on nasal cannula; classified as Level II care
August 11 (Day 28): T gets to hold Evan for first time
August 9 (Day 26): Got his first bath by mom
August 8 (Day 25): Moved into the 3rd pod
August 7 (day 24): Respirator removed; put on nasal CPAP; held by Jen for the first time; moved into a crib
August 5 (Day 22): Oscillating respirator removed, put on conventional respirator
August 2 (Day 19): Arterial line removed
July 31 (Day 17): PDA healed
July 28 (Day 14): PDA discovered
July 25 (Day 11): Off the bilights; bi-carb burn on his right foot discovered; Jen's first diaper change
July 23 (day 9): PIC line inserted
July 21 (Day 7): mild IVH grades detected in brain
July 18 (Day 4): Pulmonary hemmorhage detected; put on ocillating respirator
July 14 (Day 1): Born by emergency c-section in Sierra Vista Hospital and air-evac'ed to University Medical Center in Tucson

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

8/16/06: Day 33 (Wed.) ROP Test Results Good

Another good visit today...really not much to report. If Evan keeps tolerating all the increases to his feeds, he'll be off of the IV. Today he was up to 20ml with the goal being 35ml. He's being fed every 3 hours and every time they feed him they up the amount by 1ml. So, doing that math, by the next 15 feeds he should be at full feed (on Friday)!

I did get clarification on his ROP test results from the attending doctor, Dr. Tsai. She said his results sheet stated "Stage I Zone 2". Without going in detail (you can read about it on that hyperlink I posted), his results are of the mildest form with nothing to worry about. He'll be checked in 2 more weeks to see if the blood vessels improve.

This note is for my soccer buddies who may be reading this...you would not believe who I ran into when I was getting off the elevator at UMC....Barb! Barb was there to visit with her daughter who was in the ICU. Barb came up to the NICU and got to see Evan...it had been so long since I had seen her that she was shocked to hear I had a baby. She misses all the soccer ladies and wishes she could come back out and play.

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UMC Charges: $4,131.50
Running Total: $284,246.59
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Tuesday, August 15, 2006

8/15/06: Day 32 (Tues.) Hearing Test

Great news to hear Evan passed his hearing test! He also had his eye exam, but Marianne wasn't able to decipher the test results page. The doctor scribbled something on the page to the effect that he needs another follow-up test in 2 weeks. So, I am guessing they saw something that they want to double check. Marianne said Evan was not a happy guy when she put the drops in his eyes to get them to dialate. She said he was fine when she put them in his first eye, but when he figured out the drops stung a bit, he refused to open his other eye. She had to really work to get that other eye open. They do the hearing test when the babies are sleeping, so Evan never felt a thing.

Evan is doing super-great on his feeds. He is up to over 20ml every 3 hours. The goal is to get him to "full feeds" which I think is about 35ml for him. Thank goodness this boy is starting to eat more since I have so much frozen milk in my freezer I need to get rid of!

Dr. Cahan stopped by while we were visiting and we asked her about the possibility of Evan being transferred to the Sierra Vista Hopsital now that he was reclassified to a Level II care baby. She was unsure of the level of care the SV Hospital could give and she said she would check on that. Since Evan was sick for so long, she is cautious to transfer him for fear of him having to come back to UMC in case he gets sick again. One of the nurses nearby said that she knew the SV Hospital will take a baby only if it is off an IV (Evan still has an IV even though it is just running supplemental TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition). Once Evan gets up to full feeds, he won't need that IV anymore (but he'll still have the PIC line in just for emergencies). So, it looks like our guy won't be coming back to Sierra Vista in the near future such as within a week or so. His primary nurse Marianne isn't eager to see him go either since he has been so easy to take care of.

Today we also found out one of the nurses taking care of a baby right beside Evan was the Air-Evac nurse who took care of him inflight the day he was born. Takeshi thought she looked familiar when she was talking to us. She has been happy to see how far he has come in almost 5 weeks. :-)

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UMC Charges: $4,765.45
Running Total: $280,115.09
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Monday, August 14, 2006

8/14/06: Day 31 (Mon.) ROP & Hearing Tests Tomorrow. I Month Old!*

Another slow and steady day! Not much news to report on aside that Evan is being the perfect patient in the NICU! ;-) I think tomorrow he is getting his eyes checked. All preemies get their eyes checked for a disease called Retinopathy of Prematurity or ROP. Since Evan was a 30+ weeker, he shouldn't have this disease, since it is more common in the littlest preemies. Both T and I held him today...I'm getting better at lifting him out of the crib (it's still scary with all those wires). Give me a few more tries and I'll be a pro by then!

Evan's nurse Marianne took all that white tape off his cannula and replaced it with clear tape, so you can see his face better in these vids.



In this vid, you can hear Evan doing this snorting thing. He had just had his repiratory therapy before we shot this:



Another vid where Evan was snorting (we were bored today, o.k.?)




Evan being all comfy while he was sleeping.



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UMC Charges: $4,949.25
Running Total: $275,349.64
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