Thursday, August 25, 2011

Baltimore: Day 39 (August 25)

The roller coaster of fevers and infections is going full speed again today. Robbie has had a fever now for about 18 hours and the doctors just came by and said that he now has an infection in his blood, but they aren't for sure exactly what it is. Obviously getting a blood infection is horrible because it can spread so quickly throughout the body and can becomre very dangerous. We are now in a delima because he doesn't have an IV in place and who knows how long that could take to get. Yesterday we waited about seven hours just to get a blood culture drawn because the PICU was so busy and their guy couldn't get down here. The worst part about getting these infections, aside from just getting an infection, are that they are all hospital-induced, meaning the only reason he is getting an infection is because he is in the hospital. The other part that is frustrating is that they have just guessed multiple times on what antibiotic will work and been wrong, so now he has a tolerance for some of the meds that could actually help him out. When you are in a hospital this long you know that you are going to get some things that most patients don't, but what is really upsetting to us is the fact that they aren't getting the right meds for the right infections and messing everything up.

The last few days have been pretty good overall though. Robbie has been resting well and when he is up is fully of personality and energy, maybe too much energy. We had to put his legs in a knee imobilizer because he figured out that he can bend them now and that is one of the biggest no-no's for the pelvis. Tomorrow is the five week mark and we are hopeful that if we can shake all these infections and fevers that we should be able to get out of here next weekend.

And if the trip couldn't be more stressful and tramatic, we are now bracing ourselves for Hurricane Irene. I mean, really, an earthquake on Tuesday and now a category 2 hurricane this weekend. Just give me the heat and humidity of Kansas City any day, at least you can turn on the AC. We can't get out of this place quick enough and hopefully the last week or so goes quicker than any week we have had so far.

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