PICU Day 13 ~ {July 7, 2012}

~Playing with Barbie~

Today was another fairly uneventful day, and we spent the morning visiting with Barbie as she had to head back to Colorado this afternoon.  It was a very short visit; but we were very thankful to see her even for a short time, and Noelle enjoyed the extra playtime and snuggles she received from her.  She sweetly spoiled us while she was here and made sure we were taken care of well during her visit, and we cannot thank her enough for taking time out of her busy schedule to come be with us during this time.  It appears that we will be here for at least another week as they try to completely stabilize Noelle and regulate her on all her medications before she goes home.  The blood clot in her right leg is still an area of concern, and the doctors have been consulting amongst each other as well as with some other departments as to how to handle this issue in the best possible manner.  They discontinued the heparin drip yesterday and tried to transition her to baby aspirin; but this morning, her foot was cool again and the pulse could not be felt or heard by doppler. After much discussion amongst themselves, the attending PICU physician and a hematologist came and met with us to review the issue, family history, possible future risks, and the current planned course of action to treat with Lovenox.  Unfortunately, this means that Noelle gets a little shot in her tummy every 12 hours; so it is obviously not my favorite solution.

~Sweet Snuggles~

However, even if they put her back on heparin, it would require more sticks for lab results to manage the therapy levels in her blood; so that is not an ideal answer either.  We are just praying that God will resolve this issue within the next week so that we are not required to continue the shots at home (which I know I cannot do anyway...I will drive her somewhere twice a day to have someone else do it before I will do it myself!!).  Thankfully, they were able to doppler a pulse in her little foot this afternoon and tonight, so we are hoping it stays this time (they have been able to do it from time to time, but not consistently).  The good news is that she weaned off the nitric oxide last night and the milrinone this afternoon and has shown no signs of negative reactions as of yet.  We thank God for each hour that passes in which she seems to do better and better and hope we are truly on the path to going back home.  While tired and a little weary of living at the hospital, we are very grateful for the care she is receiving and do not want to take Noelle home any sooner than she is physically ready.  Her sweet smile helps carry us through these days, and we thank God for this precious little girl that we love so much.  Barbie took some family pictures on her own camera last night and actually captured a shot of all three of us smiling at once!!  I absolutely love this picture of Noelle, and it does my heart a world of good to see such happy expressions captured on that cute little face!!  Your prayers continue to be appreciated more than we can communicate in words.  Thank you.

~First "all looking & smiling" family picture~