Time for a Tune Up

Well, as much fun as it has been to be at home, Miss Elaina decided that she missed all the hustle and bustle of the hospital and we're back at Primary Children's for a little "tune up". She's been battling a double ear infection for a few weeks, and did really well after the first round of antibiotics. We went back to the doctor last Monday for a 2 week follow up and her ears were looking good. She had a pretty good, uneventful, week until Sunday.... She woke up Sunday morning and was a little fussy. This is not normal for Elaina, she's a pretty mellow, laid back and happy girl, so when she's fussy she's got a good reason. She was really sleepy as well, in fact she took a 5 hour nap! After her nap I had her in her saucer and felt like I needed to get her out. When I did, she was really blue and her arms and legs were really cold. I took into the bedroom and snuggled her in a blanket while I pulled out the pulse ox... no reading... I quickly pulled out my handy dandy portable suction machine and suctioned quite a bit of gunk out of her nose and throat. She still looked blue. I increased her oxygen and finally got a reading on the pulse ox. 72%. Not good, especially on increased O2. Her legs and arms were still cold so I tossed some PJ's in the dryer to warm up and took her temperature while I waited. 102.2 degress. Not good. I gave her some Tylenol and put the toasty warm pajamas on. Her sats went up to 78. A little better but still not great. I decided to put Ben to bed (not only because it was past his bedtime, but he was freaking out - silly boy) and I called the on-call doctor (because it was 9:30 on a Sunday night). He told me in no uncertain terms that I was to take her to the ER at Primary Children's. I called a friend to come and sit with Ben until my Mom could get there and loaded Elaina up. Once we got to the ER, they took one look at her coloring and scooped her away and put her in a room. Her ear infections have come back and we're pretty sure she's got Strep throat. In all the chaos of chest x-rays, and hustle and bustle of the ER somehow the culture wasn't done. The ER docs decided it was best to admit Elaina so that we could make sure that it wasn't a cardiac event causing her sats to drop so suddenly and so that she could get some good IV antibiotcs (it only took 2 pokes to get the IV and we still have it! knock on wood!) She had a rough night Sunday night with fever and a bi-pap mask that didn't fit very well. She also missed a dose of her Revatio (aka viagra - for her pulmonary hypertension) and we think that contributed to her rough night as well. She's currently on 3 liters of O2 (she came home on 1 liter) to keep her sats in the 80's. So far the Viral panel has come back negative, so hopefully it's just her ears and throat. She's coughing a lot more and seems to have a little more of a struggle to clear her secretions. We took a trip to Cardiology for an Echo yesterday and the cardiology team told me that her heart function still looks really good, so they don't think that her increased oxygen need is due to heart failure or a sudden event with her heart. I cannot tell you what a relief it was to hear that!!!!!
So at this point the general consensus is that her reserves are just a little low after fighting off a double ear infection a couple of weeks ago, so she just needs a little extra help with oxygen right now while her body is fighting. On a postive note, this has given us the opportunity to fine tune some of Elaina's meds and also increase her feedings, both calorie and volume, while under the watchful eye of doctors and nurses. Another positive is that Dr Black gets to be her attending physician, and although the in house team of residents is taking care of her, Dr Black is signing the orders and is in control of the labs, etc.
The goal right now is to be able to go home as soon as possible. We're hoping to get Elaina weaned down to 2 liters of O2 before coming home. I'm aiming for Wednesday, but we all know that Elaina does things in her own time and on her own schedule. We were supposed to have a Cardiology visit next week, but since she had the echo already, they want us to follow up in 4 - 6 weeks, once she's feeling a little bit better.

I don't have a laptop with me this admission, so I'll try to update when I can. Please pray that we get to come home tomorrow and that Elaina will once again show everyone how strong she is. So many of the staff her haven't seen her in almost 2 years and they are amazed at how big she is and how good she looks (even though she's sick!). I think she's feeling a little bit better today, she's actually given the nurses a few smiles! We're in room 3061 if anyone is at PCMC and wants to come say hello!

HUGS!!!!
Hollie, Ben and Elaina