We arrived this morning to not such great news.
The doctors are now worried that Jac may have pneumatosis which is often a sign of Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC).
They performed 2 sets of Xrays of his tummy this morning to check for pneumatosis and the readiologists think they see it - the fellow in the NICU couldn't see it. She said that pneumatosis can be very hard to see on an Xray and it is a good sign that she can't see it - meaning that it is not really obvious and it is possible that it is not there - or that it is not very severe.
They took blood from Jac to check for any signs of infection and they tried to get a urine sample by putting a catheter in - but that didn't work - 2 nurses tried and neither one could get it in. This whole process made me cry and I had to leave several times. It is so hard to watch my son cry and struggle - I just want to pick him and up and hold him and protect him and I can't and it is the hardest thing.
They have started him on antibiotics in case he does have an infection - they will have preliminary results of the blood culture in 24 hours and 95% accurate results in 48 hours - the final culture is not considered complete for 5 days. The culture will tell us for sure if he does have an infection.
He looks very pale today. The nurse told me a bit ago that his hematocrit is low which means that he needs a transfusion. The doctor told me that this could be the reason that he is so pale and why he doesn't seem to be feeling well - and not a problem in his gut and not an infection. I have everything crossed I can in the hopes that this is the problem.
To give him the transfusion he has to have a peripheral IV (PIV) line put in in his foot again. He had one but it had gone bad last week so they took it out. This means more sticks for poor little Jac today - he has already had enough - but they should be able to do blood draws from that PIV for a while so at least that will save him from all of those heel sticks.
This morning I watched while they took a bunch of blood from his arm and that made me cry also. Augh! I better toughen up before Jac decides he wants to play football in a few years!
They will do Xrays every 6 hours to check the status of the pneumatosis - so the last one was around 11 am so the next one will be around 5 pm. Keep your fingers crossed.
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PS. I spoke to Suzanne Singer today and gave her an update on Jac. She sends her best. She is not online at this time.
ReplyDeleteI am so sad to hear about this setback. I will continue to pray that this isn't NEC and that baby Jac gets stronger and continues to be a little fighter. Taj, don't be too hard on yourself for crying. First, your mommy hormones are raging and second, it is REALLY hard to watch any of these procedures. I cried when they told me about heel sticks and difficult IV lines that I didn't even see! You will still cringe when he plays football but it won't nearly be the same! Again, big hugs to both of you. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteKaren