Good News and Bad News

The Good News: Brett's viral culture came back negative, which mean he doesn't have any type of influenza or any other viral illness. Because of that he has been taken off contact and droplet precautions, which means we don't have to wear the hot robes and masks anymore. The other good news is that he has been weaned down from the 5 liters of humidified oxygen to 3 liters at around 35% I think. The plan this afternoon is supposed to be to try to put him on a regular oxygen flow at 2 liters. If he tolerates that well without having to work too hard to breathe, we should be able to move to a regular room tomorrow after 4 nights in the PICU.

The Bad News: Brett's broviac line blood culture was positive again for bacteria. This points toward a little more evidence that the central line may be infected. If there are a few more positives in the next few days, he will probably have the line removed. If a few more negatives show up, then we'll probably keep it. The broviac was not necessarily the source of the infection (in fact, the assumption right now is that it somehow assimilated into his blood from his gut) but since it is in the blood now, we have to make sure the line is free of infection. If it is infected, there is no other choice but to remove it. If it continues to appear as though his gut is somehow leaking bacteria into the rest of his body, we may put him on some sort of prophylactic antibiotic to prevent that from happening again. At this point, though, it is all sort of speculation - if this, then that. We'll keep you posted on the progress at that point.

Brett and I did get a good bit more sleep last night once he was able to be fed and have a full tummy. Excited though to be possibly moving to the floor tomorrow.