As for Brett, port was not only infected with staph, but also 2 other gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, he's now on 3 different antibiotics I think to cover all those. It surprised everyone that he was growing something other than staph. He is going to have to have some IV antibiotics for 11-14 more days, and we are still using a peripheral IV in his hand. His pulmonologists don't really want him to have another central line (like a port or broviac) because it seems every time it gets infected. However, as I have said before, you can't go home on a peripheral IV, and it has failed every day and he has to get a new one.
After much deliberation between us (Rob and I) and all the "teams" involved (pulmonary, infectious disease, surgery, immunology), we have come to the conclusion to try for a PICC line tomorrow. In the best case, they can get a PICC line big enough to go home on when the time comes. If not, the hope is that we can at least get one to use instead of the peripheral IV while he's in the hospital. The advantage to the PICC versus the port-a-cath or Broviac is that once we're done with IV therapy, the PICC can be pulled out by a nurse - it doesn't have to be surgically removed. We can pull it out when we're done and he won't have any central line at that point to risk getting infected. This will give his body a little break. Hopefully this makes sense. I'm really tired.
Gantt walking down the ramp with Daddy watching him
It makes perfect sense. I'll be glad when this episode is behind all of you - especially for Brett.
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