A good boy

Not much new to report today. Thursday is a big lab day for Parker and things looked pretty good and the infection seems to be under control. Many of his tests have been reduced to twice a week. I like to get conformation more often but we don't need to bleed him dry. Speaking of which, he did get another blood transfusion today. His lungs are still questionable but maybe sound a little better.

I missed rounds for the first time in quite a while. Lindsey was there and got most of the information and I also requested a call from the doctor. YES, I am one of those parents. They will all be glad to see Parker well enough to come home.

The low antibiotic level mystery has been solved. It seems that the hospital is using some new PICC lines with different tubing. The new tubes are bigger. Since the tube is larger, the volume of the antibiotic plus the flush to push it through the line was not enough to move it completely through the tube. The peak levels drawn an hour after the dose were inaccurate since much of the antibiotic was still in the tube. There is now a note hanging to alert the staff next time they use these lines on another baby. Thanks, Parker! Way to go! Actually, a pharmacist at Children's Hospital figured it out.

It's a little after 10:00 pm, he's resting comfortably and being a good boy. He is tolerating his feeds well and isn't fighting the vent. He just needs to grow and get stronger so he will be ready to come of the ventilator. The plan is after his antibiotic course he'll get some steroids to help his lungs. Steroids are great at reducing inflammation but suppress the immune system.

I'll let Lindsey blog about the United Health Care auditors.