December 24th: I had really hoped to be home for the holidays, but clearly that's not going to happen so we're making the most of it. We have Christmas music playing on the I-pod and the little Christmas tree in Emmy's room is lit day and night...we're doing our best to be festive!
Emmy reached her goal feeding rate last night so the TPN and lipids were discontinued. We're down to just a couple of IV infusions now- heparin for the blood clot and Milrinone for her blood pressure and renal perfusion. The Milrinone should be discontinued today, and the heparin in a couple days...then she will be IV free! Her chest tube drained very little overnight, so they plan to remove it later today. Other plans for the day include advancing her feeding rate a little more since she has less fluid coming in intravenously and weaning her off of the oxygen. Tubes and lines are disappearing left and right...we're so happy to see them go!!!
Evening update: Another productive day here in room 5112 at PCH. Emmy's chest tube was removed and after some deep suctioning this morning, she is breathing much easier. Her feeding continued through the ND tube and she tolerated it much better today. She still had a couple bouts of emesis but much less than yesterday. The Milrinone was discontinued but she wasn't able to have the oxygen completely turned off...that will be something to keep working on tomorrow!
Emmy did have several episodes of cardiac arrhythmia today, but the cardiologists and ICU intensivists have told us that the cause is most likely benign. One minute she will be in a normal sinus rhythm and the next her heart rate has jumped into the 170s and she is skipping beats and having premature atrial contractions. She had 2 EKGs today that were sent to her cardiologist's office, but both showed sinus tachycardia with an occasional cardiac pause...the doctors say she is probably going into a rhythm called ectopic atrial tachycardia but there is no need for concern at this point. She was given a one time dose of a cardiac medication, Amiodarone, to see if it would resolve the issue but there hasn't seemed to be any change yet.
We're looking forward to a very Merry Christmas despite being stuck in the hospital. We continue to have daily struggles, but we certainly have many blessings to be thankful for! We're just settling in for a long winter's nap...hoping to wake up to the sound of jingle bells and hoof steps:)
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