Friday, December 19, 2014

Recovery and PICC Line

Broc has been doing well during his recovery. He is still having fevers due to his immune response to surgery. Thankfully his blood pressure has gone back to normal and no more vagal responses where he turned blue. That was seriously scary to see. He is having times when his body gets wiped out and he has to lay down.


 
Thank you Aqua for making Broc this very special blanket. He loves it and it goes everywhere with him.
His incisions are taking a little longer to heal due to him being on steroids still. Unfortunately his eosinophil count is still higher than we want it.

 
We had a visit from Uncle Scott. The boys loved him reading stories.
 
Broc had his PICC line put in on Wednesday. Probably one of the scariest days for this mommy. We should have had it done at Riley Hospital. There was a huge lack in communication and they never looked at Brocs extensive history before hand. Needless to say Sis Garner and I prayed the entire time Broc was in the OR.

The Child life Specialist came before hand and explained what was going to happen. Broc and Mark were given stuffed animals and Brocs was given a PICC line first.

 
Broc inspecting what the PICC line will look like and wondering if he should really go through with it.
 
While Broc was back in the OR we ran downstairs to grab something to eat as non of us had eaten yet. he was supposed to have his PICC done at 11am but cause he needed to have it done in the OR he got bumped to 1:45pm.
 
Broc was very upset while they were taking him back because of all the uncertainty and not eating or even drinking so I was able to go back and put him to sleep. I had to put on a cap and mask and climb on the bed with him. I was able to hold him in my arms until he was fast asleep. I wish I could have stayed with him the entire time but I did really need to eat before I passed out myself.
 
Finally we got the word that he was back upstairs on the peds floor. Once he was awake he asked for a milkshake and they nurses very kindly made him a milkshake. Once all his vitals were stable and he had peed we were discharged. We had to wait for the PICC team to come in so they could teach me how to flush his line, how to care for it and what to do in an emergency if something happened to it.
 

 
Once I got all my training and books we were able to leave. It was a very long day esp for Lil Mark as he is really ill but unfortunately had to come with us. He wanted to be with his mommy. Sis Garner was a great surrogate grandma for the day. It was nice to have moral support too.
 
 

   Mark and I are still learning the ropes with Brocs PICC line. Bathing is really interesting cause his line cannot get wet at all so we have to wrap his arm  in plastic wrap then cover it and tape it up. His lines also have to be flushed twice a day so we will be doing that too.

Thank you for all the love, prayers and support. We are hoping to get Mark better and keep Broc healthy till Brocs next surgery on Jan 8.

4 comments:

  1. Love those smiles in the last photo!

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  2. There is a type of dressing called aquaguard. It helps keep water away from the picc line when taking baths or showers. I learned about it when my daughter had a picc line

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  3. Thank you for the update. Sorry for all that you guys have going on. I'm sure you will be a good picc line nurse for your kiddo.

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