When T and I go up to visit, we really try to be drama-free. Our visit started out to be that way, but of course, Evan had to give us a little scare. His primary nurse Marianne was on duty so it was nice to have someone give us all the news without having to pry it out. On the days she isn't working, Evan will get some random nurse who isn't always the most forth-coming with info. Marianne had overheard the doctors say they may switch him over to the conventional respirator in a few days. Although the conventional respirator is a bit harsher on preemie lungs, it will give Evan more of a chance to breathe on his own. Right now, he is trying to breathe against that oscillating respirator and that is a hard thing to do. They have continued to turn down the amplitude on the oscillating respirator, so he isn't vibrating as badly anymore.
As for Evan giving us a scare...I had thought he had scratched his stomach since I saw a thin line of blood appear on his tummy. He had started to be fidgety again, so I thought he scratched himself with his right arm (his right arm has the art line and a catheter-like thing where they take blood from him). As we stood and watched him, we saw more blood appear on his stomach when he touched his right arm to his stomach and we figured out the blood was coming from the art line.
T told Marianne about it and she ended up getting the doctor on call to come take a look. Evan has had that art line since he got there, so the doctor ended up taking it out, cleaned up his right arm since it was covered in blood and planned on reinserting it later. They also use that art line to monitor his blood pressure, so they put this little blood pressure cuff on his leg to keep monitoring his levels. While the doctor was taking out the art line, Evan's heart rate went sky high (I think I saw it hit 190 at one point). The doctor wasn't too concerned since she said his oxygen saturation was still in the good range. After she was done fiddling with his arm, he calmed down a lot. They said Evan's vital signs are interesting...he'll have a big jump in his blood pressure, but his heart rate will stay normal, or his heart rate will shoot up and his blood pressure stays low. They aren't sure what is causing it, but it isn't something that is alarming them.
Tomorrow Evan will get another head ultrasound and chest x-ray. The head ultrasound will check again on the IVH areas in his brain...since the last result showed no change to those areas in his brain, they anticipate this one will show the same. The chest x-ray will reveal if his lungs have completely healed from that hemorrhage about 2 weeks ago. He is still getting breast milk feeds every 12 hours. So, things are starting to look up...the next stage will be moving him back to the conventional respirator. Hopefully more good news after tomorrow!
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UMC Charges: $6,738.00
Running Total: $193,567.49
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Showing posts with label heart rate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heart rate. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
8/1/06: Day 18 (Tues.) PIC Line Adjustment
If only there was a way to put the car on auto-pilot for that drive to Tucson! I have co-workers who do the drive every day and I don't know how they stay sane!
So, the visit was good, no major improvements from his condition yesterday. He was much more calm than yesterday when I got there, so I didn't do much but watch him through the incubator. I didn't want to take the chance of getting him fussy.
The one odd thing the nurse told me was earlier in the day his heart rate kept dipping lower thasn usual (below 100 and then it would jump into the 140s). They thought maybe it had to do with that PIC line; that maybe it slipped in too far and was tickling a part of his heart. They x-rayed him and I think they did adjust the line a bit.
He is still on the course of steroids for the next few days, so I don't think we'll know if they helped until the weekend. They only check his blood gases every 12 hours, so that is a good thing, showing his levels are getting normal. He is still getting minute doses of breast milk every 8 hours, so he was due for a "feeding" at 9pm last night.
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UMC Charges: $7,302.60
Running Total: $186,829.49
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So, the visit was good, no major improvements from his condition yesterday. He was much more calm than yesterday when I got there, so I didn't do much but watch him through the incubator. I didn't want to take the chance of getting him fussy.
The one odd thing the nurse told me was earlier in the day his heart rate kept dipping lower thasn usual (below 100 and then it would jump into the 140s). They thought maybe it had to do with that PIC line; that maybe it slipped in too far and was tickling a part of his heart. They x-rayed him and I think they did adjust the line a bit.
He is still on the course of steroids for the next few days, so I don't think we'll know if they helped until the weekend. They only check his blood gases every 12 hours, so that is a good thing, showing his levels are getting normal. He is still getting minute doses of breast milk every 8 hours, so he was due for a "feeding" at 9pm last night.
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UMC Charges: $7,302.60
Running Total: $186,829.49
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