As Vanessa and I were getting comfortable in bed last night, my phone rang. I looked at the number, glanced at Vanessa, as she was half way to the moon I answered it with some hesitation. It was the nurse in charge of Channing’s nightly care, this at times can be a call full of elation or a call of dispare; it was a call of dispare. To prepare you for the call I would like to quickly inform you of what occurred yesterday as we began dialysis. Yesterday there was a bit of concern of the first drain of fluid from his peritoneal catheter. The first fluid drained was a bit cloudy and greenish yellow, the nephrologist was not impressed as it was suspicious and lead to questions of a possible infection. As I stated in the last post, he ordered to test the fluid for infection which the tests for bacteria have not come back....24-36 hours is needed to grow cultures for bacteria. Throughout the day Channing had continuous green, bilious spit up from normal digestive functions. However, with the continuous feeds, this spit up showed signs of concern with his digestive system, something serious if not treated. Getting back to the call from the nurse, she informed me that dialysis was stopped and feeds were haulted to understand why Channing had continuous spit up from his gut. Another dose of information was disclosed. The fluid from his dialysis catheter showed twice the amount of white blood cells than normal in it, 69,000, this was a sign of peritonitis which is the area of the body where the dialysis is taking place. Ultrasound would follow in the morning. Going to sleep was difficult, but slowly managed.
We made the call to the NICU in the morning, which is now our daily routine. The nurse informed us that Channing had an ultrasound and questions to whether he had an ileus or an intussusception in his bowel was much of a concern; this can happen at times when people are asleep for surgery and can create huge life threatening problems if left untreated. An upper GI in radiology, where I work may have to be performed... EEK! This was a huge setback to hear.
We arrived to the hospital and Channing looked, pale, uncomfortable, nearly lifeless and we felt we were slowly losing him with this set back. We were very emotional, however the nephrologist calmed our nerves as he informed us that from the imaging study, ultrasound earlier this morning, showed positive signs of no classical concerns of ileus or intussusception. Additionally, antibiotics would be in his dialysis fluid to treat the possible peritonitis and will continue.
After we were calmed with semi good news, my dad, Grandpa Rhoads (LoLo) was finally able to hold Channing. This was a moment for the ages. Though he is on a CPAP machine to assist with his breathing, a central line for his TPN and blood draws, and his PD catheter for dialysis this boy can travel! LoLo was thrilled to hold his grandson.
It was a difficult and stressful day for us, but were relieved that at least one grandparent was able to hold their grandson. We have been informed that the journey Channing is graciously taking us on that many days will be like this, however for us new parents it is impossible to prepare for. As we left the hospital tonight (still with difficulty) the respiratory therapists applied a slow ween (lower setting) of the CPAP, a big step to getting Chan Man off of the machine that assists with his breathing.
We are always so thankful for the care he is receiving at U of M Mott Children’s Hospital.
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