Potential Good News

There is a possibility that Audrey doesn't have an infection at all. The doctors told us this morning that the bacteria that was growing was from the blood from the central IV line that was removed last night, and that there is a possibility that the bacteria is from a contaminant in the line and not actually in her body.

So, last night before they started her antibiotics, they drew some blood directly from her vein and not through an IV. This blood was put into culture to see if bacteria grows in it. If it does, Audrey has the infection and everything is as I said in the last post. If no bacteria grows, then it was a contaminant and Audrey doesn't have an infection.

If she does not have an infection, we should be able to come home sometime this weekend. They hope to be able to tell us for sure which it is by tomorrow. Please pray that it was a contaminant and not an infection.

Thank you all again for your prayers.

Please Continue to Pray

We just had a doctor report to us that a bacterial infection has grown in the blood culture that was taken from Audrey's IV line.  They are speaking with a cardiologist, and IV doc and an infection doc about the right antibiotics to start her on tonight.  They are also going to draw blood for another culture. This time directly from her vein to determine if the infection is in her blood stream or just where the one line was.  They also said by tomorrow, the bacteria will have grown more, giving a better indication of just exactly what she has.  At least this is my understanding of what I've been told.

It is very good news that they caught this before Audrey started showing symptoms of illness (her temperature has returned to normal after that one reading), so they can begin treatment right away, and we are very thankful for that.  

I am currently trying to stave off feelings of guilt for trying to get us home.  I know my motives were to get her in an environment where she'll eat & sleep better.  I am reminding myself that, even though I asked if we could go home and treat any possible infection there, I did agree in the end that staying was in her best interest. 

Please pray for Audrey, and that this infection can be killed quickly.  So far, the doctors haven't said anything that is scaring us.  So far, everything sounds very treatable. Please pray that this is and continues to be the case.

Please also pray for our family.  As you know Alex has been staying with my parents, who have been so wonderful in helping out, and Julie & I have both missed over two weeks of work now.  We've done some work from here, but in comparison to our regular routine, we've done very little.  The doctor said that nothing is definitive at this point, but we could be looking at staying until the antibiotics run their course, which would 5-7 days, depending on what she's put on.

At this point, our best option for our family and for the camp, seems to be for me to head home in the next day or two, if Julie's mom is willing to stay here with her.  We're talking about our options now.  It kills me to think of leaving Audrey here and leaving Julie, but it also kills both of us to think of being away from Alex this much longer. Please keep our decision making in your prayers and working out all of the logistics to follow through with our decision. 

How's that for asking for lots of prayers?  Other than this infection, which again does not seem to be showing symptoms of illness, Audrey is doing really well, and for that we are so thankful! And we are so thankful for all of you!  It is overwhelming and humbling to know that there thousands of people praying for our family.  Thank you.

Another 48 Hours

No, not the sequel to the movie starring Eddie Murphy & Nick Nolte, which by the way was not near as good as the original 48 Hours; not that I would watch a rated-R movie like that and enjoy it.

No, this "another 48 hours", refers to the news we heard this morning. Audrey was set to go home this morning, and from everything we can tell and everything the docs tell us, she doing great. But, at 4 am the nurses came in to get Audrey's temperature and blood pressure. Blood pressure was good. The temperature was low, and the doctor who came in soon after explained to me that a temperature that low can be as much of an indicator of an infection as a fever. So they ordered up labs on blood, and cultures on her urine and fluids from her IV.

The results from the blood came back negative (which is good unless you're Michael Scott or George Costanza), but the cultures take 48 hours, so that's how long they want us to stay now. 48 hours ends around 6:00am Friday morning.

I joined in on "rounds" this morning when the doctors discussed Audrey to see if I could convince them to let us go on home, and take her to her doctor if they called and said the cultures showed something. They said that heart surgery patients are at a higher risk of infection and that they couldn't let us go with a potential indicator of infection still there, but if things were still OK tomorrow morning they would consider letting us go after 36 hours.

This is not what we wanted, but would still be helpful. She would get to go home and sleep in her bed and we've promised her we won't come in every two hours to check her vitals, wake her up at 5am for a chest x-ray, or any other check unless she cries for us. Audrey is pretty sleep deprived at this point. She's shown very little interest in napping during the daytime hours, and between midnight and 7am seems to be the time to play "I'm just gonna have a quick listen" for everyone wearing scrubs within a one-mile radius.

It was so bad yesterday morning (5 doctors in a row, about 20 minutes apart each coming to take a "quick listen"), that in the wee hours this morning I went to the overnight resident doctor and asked that they all come at the same time or only one do the listening and tell the others what they heard. This doctors was so great about it, she took a listen then and we didn't see any other doctors for 4 hours letting Audrey get back to sleep.

Audrey's appetite has also not picked up to where it was and we all agree, doctors included, that getting out of the hospital and getting back into a normal routine will help this greatly.

The really good news is that Audrey is fine, the doctors don't think there's much to worry about. They are just being cautious, which we appreciate, regardless of how frustrating or depressing it may be.

Please pray Audrey to get more sleep and to eat more. Please also pray for our tolerance, which is being stretched. I'll also ask you to pray for the many people we've met whose children have just as serious conditions as Audrey, but with less favorable outcomes. There are many here who are hurting greatly - too many to mention specifics. It really opens your eyes to how this is ongoing, not just when we are in the hospital with them.

Unless something new happens, hopefully our next post will be to say we're headed home. For now we're gonna hang out. Maybe I'll go rent 48 hours.

Un-Tethered

Just a quick update.  Earlier today, we had been told that the chest tube would have to be in for at least another day, which meant we'd be here at least until Wednesday.  So this afternoon, Julie's parents came over, which they do every day - they've been wonderful - and we went to their condo and took a nap (we're currently sharing a pull-out twin bed at the hospital).  When we got back this evening, we were surprised to find out that they had removed the chest tube.

Since it was so late in the day, they still are looking at Wednesday at the earliest, but without any tubes, we can pick her up freely.  We can not express how exciting this is for us, and Audrey seems to be just as excited but she's expressing her excitement in a much more snugly way. Please join our praise.

A Much Better Day

It's 5:00am, I get a nudge from the nurse, expecting to be covered with a lead blanket for Audrey's x-ray, instead was told that they were moving us to a regular room in about 10 minutes.  Julie was asleep in a room they gave us for the night, so I asked for the phone number for that room.  They gave it to me. A very sleepy voice female answered, and I told her they were moving to the 6th floor.  A more awake voice responded, "We're moving to the 6th floor?"  I realized that his was not my wife.  I explained how they had given me the wrong number, but somehow, I don't think she was blaming the nurse near as much as I was.  

30 minutes later, after getting the right phone number and gathering our stuff, we were in the room.  Even though we felt evacuated, the rest of the day was great.  Audrey got a bath and got to put on PJ's.  She sat up a lot, was held a lot and even got to go for a wagon ride around the hospital.

She's still got a chest tube in draining fluid from around her lung.  We're waiting to hear from the doctors to find out if that can come out today.  Our feeling is that we'll be here 1 day after that tube comes out, but that's just our guess.  We'll know more hopefully soon.

Leaving the PICU

Maybe. The doctors feel like Audrey has made enough improvement to be moved to a regular room on the pediatric cardiac floor. The only thing holding her back is the availability of a room. So, it is possible that she may be in the PICU longer, but this is still a big step because, as far as recovery is concerned, she is out of the PICU.

Today they removed one of her two chest tubes and took her off of oxygen. He lungs continue to look better and one doctor thinks we may be out of here all together in a day or two. Please pray that Audrey is ready to leave that soon. We all want her to be here until she is absolutely healthy enough to leave, but we all want that to happen as soon as possible. We're ready to take her home.

She's also on fewer meds, which means she's more alert and aware. Even though she's alert, she's not herself yet. She's been through a lot, and we think, she's not sure it's over, so she's pretty reserved. If we do move out of PICU before leaving, besides the change of environment, we'll be free to take her for walks, either holding her or being pulled in a wagon. We think this will help her feel like things are behind her more. But, we think putting on clothes, getting in the car and going home will do the most.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep them coming. She's not completely better yet, and we are praying that her mood is a natural stuck-in-the-hospital thing and not any sort of adoption attachment setback. We're pretty sure it's the former.

We snapped this pic earlier. It was really nice to see her resting like this as opposed to what we've been watching lately.

Looking Brighter For Audrey, Additional Prayer Requests

Audrey is Making Strides

They were able to take Audrey off of her breathing tube a couple of hours ago and she is breathing well.  Praise God!  She was initially in pain, but they've given her some meds and she's resting fairly well.  Her throat seems to be sore and bothering her from where the breathing tube was.  She is hoarse and is aggravated about all the stuff she is still hooked up to.  She does have two remaining chest tubes that have been draining fluid around her lungs.  They have already ordered one to be removed this afternoon, and they think the other will come out in the morning and maybe even this evening.  If all continues to go well, she'll be out of the ICU tomorrow.

William Stettner

We found out this morning that back home in Johnson City, there was an explosion at a local auto repair shop.  From what we've heard almost everyone escaped with only minor injuries, except one man, William Stettner.  He is on the way to Vanderbilt by ambulance now.  I have met William on a couple of occasions, but we know his wife very well. I used to work with her and her company does work for the camp, so we see her a couple of times a week.

I don't know the full extent of his injuries and I don't know how much they want share.  I will say, I have been told that they don't feel they are life-threatening at this point, but please keep him and his family in your prayers.  Life-threatening or not, they must be very serious for them to rush him here.

As long as Audrey continues to do well, we will try to take some time and go see Mary.  If Mary wants me to, I'll include updates on William.  This family is very sweet and wonderful people, please keep them in your prayers.

Abigail Nageotte

The Nageotte family travelled with us to China and adopted little Abigail.  She had cleft palate surgery yesterday.  We haven't heard yet how it went.  Please keep them in your prayers.  Please also pray for Abigail's adjustment. She's had a harder time adjusting to her new life than Audrey has, and I'm sure they are praying that the surgery and recovery time in the hospital will cause them to grow closer and not make adjusting any harder.  They also have a blog if you want more detail: http://journeytoabigail-jeunesse.blogspot.com.