Well, our little man is putting up a fight. Garrett is fighting an infection called staph aureus. This is one of the most common known staph infections and it is pretty normal for people with catheters or PICC lines to develop this type of infection. He is on antibiotics and they have removed his PICC line until the infection is gone. Now he has an IV that they have placed in Garrett's forehead. Although it looks very uncomfortable, it is the easiest place to put an IV for the nurses and the babies. It keeps them from having the IV in a hand or foot...which can make it difficult for babies to move and be easier for babies to mess with.
Garrett has also developed some respiratory issues. Again...this is very common because of his immature lungs and the fact that he has been on a ventilator for over 2 weeks. Garrett was not ready to be breathing, and now they are pushing air into his lungs through the vent. Though he will be on the vent for quite a while...they are giving him medicine through the vent and also giving him treatments to encourage the air sacs in his right lungs to expand "normally".
The doctor said it was a vicious cycle because the infection makes it more difficult to breath and his respiratory issues makes it difficult to fight the infection. Garrett received another blood transfusion today, but they are planning to begin feedings ASAP! He needs the nutrition to help fight the infection and to help him grow.
Even though this seems like a lot for our little man to be going through, he is still considered to be doing well. Being sick, he will probably need a higher saturation of oxygen, but he quite the fighter!! He still looks really good and both the nurses and the doctor said he is not really acting like he is sick. Some more good news is that the last blood culture that they did came back negative. This means that the bacteria is no longer growing in his body. They will do 1 or 2 more blood cultures to make sure they come up negative, but hopefully he will just need to take the medicine to clear the infection he has now.
Until next time...
4 comments:
Thanks for the update! Keep fighing little man! :)
Hey Carla,
It does sound like he's doing well. Everything you've mentioned is very common, like you said. And it sounds like you guys are staying well informed, which can be difficult. Hang in there, girl. NICU is hard, hard, hard on mamas. We're praying for you.
Just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you guys! I enjoy the updates and am keeping you all in my prayers.
Ashley
U'all do a great job keeping us posted & I am so thankful u do especially when I can pray more specifically 4 u. I look forward to reading them each time. Pat
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