Wednesday

Today was one of those days that just makes my head spin. Instead of trying to make it all makes sense, this is where we are:

Riley's belly is bigger than ever. He popped a stitch overnight and now has a gaping hole in his incision right next to his stoma. In addition to this gaping hole, the surgeon came by to check him out today and took a q-tip and made gaping holes in between all his other stitches. This skin WAS sealed. Obviously not all that great, cause he could pop the seal to prob around but there was no pain medication or sedation involved in this. Do they think babies don't feel pain?! Their excuse for EVERYTHING bad is "they won't remember". HELLO...how about the parents?? WE will remember. WE will have NIGHTMARES about the horrible painful stuff you inflict upon their child. WE will probably need counseling or a lobotomy to get these images and memories out of our heads. If it SOUNDS horrific...you can be assured that it is.

His stoma is no longer putting out. It seems that what was coming out over the weekend was stuff that was trapped in between blockages and now that the blockages are gone, that could come out. Nothing is making it out from his stomach though currently.

He is putting out a LOT of stuff into his replogle from his stomach. They are currently baffled as to why so much.

His white count went up again this morning. He's on as many broad-spectrum antibiotics as possible, and they are biggies: Mirapenum, Vancomycin and Gentamycin. Either they aren't working, or what he has isn't bacterial.

With that thought, they started him on Fluconazole today just in case it's a fungal infection. They currently don't think it's a fungal infection because those get REAL nasty...breathing and blood pressure issues nasty. And he's doing fine there currently. But just as a precaution, after another blood culture today (ouch), they started the fluconazole. If a fungal culture DOES grow...he will have to have his broviac removed. That's not good.

The CAT scan, ultrasound and x-rays, all look overall encouraging. No blatantly obvious issues. They all DO show fluid in there though and that is a tough one to consider. It could be perfectly normal or it could be abnormal, and either scenario is equally likely. Only way to find out is to go back to surgery and find out. If his situation doesn't improve in a few days, this could be what we are faced with.

He still isn't eating for those that have asked. It's a vicious little cycle really...Central lines make you at higher risk of infection.he has to have a central line (the broviac) for his IV nutrition. He can't get rid of the IV nutrition until he can eat enough by mouth to grow. he can't eat as long as his replogle is putting out so much and its not moving through his intestines. His intestines won't move stuff until they become less inflammed. They won't become less inflammed until the infection or whatever is going on decreases. You see where I'm going with this?

And the old saying when it rains it pours...guess I might as well throw the rest of the story out there also....

This we have known for a while now...After 9 years of service, Jay will be losing his job in January due to budget cuts. They had to cut 2 people from his area and he was one of the two. I'm not sure how the two were chosen, apparently seniority had nothing to do with the decision making, and I have my theories but regardless, it is what it is. Talk about poor timing right? And of course, with Riley's current status, he can't really LOOK for another job because who would stay with Riley? And that goes back to the point I made above....Riley may not remember this time, but WE will remember. And we will never EVER be one of those parents that only visits their babies on weekends. I am not judgemental of those that have to do that, it just will NOT be us. Everyone has to make the right move for their own family and heart, and that is the decision that is right for us and ours.

Secondly, I found out today, that I will have to have a minor surgical procedure done sometime in the near future due to some complications of my not so great recovery of Riley's birth. Needless to say, I'm not happy about this.

THANKFULLY (and I'm almost afraid to say this), Travis has NO issues currently, other than being "homesick" for Jay and Riley. :o)

So I think that is all! It certainly seems like enough right?!