Hello Ava friends. Ava has been hanging in there and being so tough. She is still out of school and missing her friends a lot. Emeline came over last night to help her with homework. Those two sure have a strong bond. Emme is like her second mom. The last 5 days she has had less than 5 ml's a day come out of her drain. We thought the tube was going to come out on Tuesday but they were not able to get her in until today. She was more than ready to have it out. Monday night we noticed blood in her drain line. Ava was really worried and I was too. I called the on call doctor and he thought it was probably just the tube rubbing against her inside causing irritation and blood. Last night there was a lot more so we were really glad to get it taken out today.
We did a dressing change on Tuesday night. She is so sensitive to tape. Her poor skin is raw in a few spots. I decided to use Tegaderm from like 10 years ago. Yes I kept it! As you can see her stitch is hanging on by literally by a thread.
This was the finished dressing change. It was a challenge to tape the tubing so that it didn't get pulled on again. (She's been very careful around doorknobs since the Sunday night Emergency room incident.)
Sorry if this grosses anyone out but I wanted to show the color changes. February 10th was the yellowish color that her fluid had been draining then it got some blood in it.
Total output for the two weeks. Crazy how she had it in a full two weeks.
She had to get an ultrasound today to make sure the cavity of fluid was gone. It was! She was given the all clear to head to radiology to have the drain removed. She is so tall she barely fits on their bed.
Good news! No fluid cavity!
Here is what it looked like right after she pulled the drain. She felt so much better the instant it was gone. We celebrated by getting lunch at the mall.... her pick Chick fil- A.
I thought we had an appointment to see the radiologist to discuss what he thought the free fluid was a result of but he was not available. I really want to figure it out. I'm going to try and get a hold of his office tomorrow. Things were know... the fluid was perinatal fluid. (The fluid your abdomen produces to help encase your organs.) It came back all normal. There was a few lymphatic cell in it but not enough to cause them to worry. At this point it seems the cavity of free fluid that was on her lower right side of her abdomen is gone. The drain did its job as the fluid kept getting less and less.
Help us continue to pray for her healing and for the fluid to stay away. We are also still monitoring her diaphragm closely. I'm not thinking too much of the future today I'm just celebrating the fact that she is better today. This has all been bringing up the trauma of her medical past. Bad dreams have become part of my sleep. I hope I can now get some rest. I know I can't control things. I have to give them to God. It's so hard to do when your child is looking at a major life changing surgery. Give it to God and live in peace. The reality is... none of us are assured tomorrow. Live today! Thanks for stopping by and checking in on Ava. We sure appreciate all your thoughts, well wishes and prayers.
-Terri and Ava
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