Day 71

There we were, getting on the road back to Gainesville, when there was A Call.

A call from one of the nurse practitioners; this is never a good thing. I had called in the morning for an update and Anya’s belly was measuring larger than it had before, so they stopped her feedings temporarily. Now however the side of her stomach with the g-button was looking red so she was put on three different antibiotics. Several different x-rays were done that all came back fine.

When we got up to see her she looked good, other than a red blown up belly. We talked to Anne, another one of the fellows with Dr. Kays. There are three troubling things: her belly is larger than it has been before, the redness, and her white count in her blood is slightly up. She may have cellulitis, and they are not sure if it is just to the skin or if there is something going on in her belly. The x-rays did not indicate anything was wrong inside her belly.

Cellulitis is an infection of the skin; even in very healthy people it can be dangerous. For all of you clinical people reading I will explain further what it looks like: the left half of her stomach is red, but not really inflamed or angry looking. There is no obvious puffiness. It is slightly warmer than the rest of her skin but only slightly. There isn’t any weeping other than a little from the g-button, and that is to be expected. It was caught within hours of it occurring and antibiotics were started soon after.

There are more good signs than bad really; she is not running a fever, when you press on the red area she does not react like it is painful, her belly is soft, and she is acting ridiculously healthy. For many complicated reasons, Anya was taken off of her versed, the sedative today. At our visit she was moving her head from one side to the next, looking for us. At one point she was irritated so I put my hands on her feet in an effort to calm her. She then proceeded to use my hand as a kind of springboard, pushing against them and launching herself up higher in her bed. While Anne was examining her she continued these antics, acting like a normal two month old that just happened to be intubated.

I am praying, VERY hard, for this to not turn into something ugly and for it to resolve quickly. It is unlikely that we can proceed with feedings or weaning the vent if she has an infection. I have no idea what is going to happen over the next few days, I am sure I will get to talk to Dr. Kays tomorrow and then will have a better idea. I am holding on to all the positives; if it does happen to be an infection it was caught so early that hopefully it will be nipped in the bud!