As far as the swelling goes, it seems to be in multiple places - her leg being the original place. Her face is puffy. Her sides, arms, and under arms are puffy. Clearly the fluid is not being transported through her system properly, but the things they are doing to try to get fluid off of her do not seem to be working as well as hoped. Her weight has increased since being in here and it's all this fluid retention. In addition to her normal Lasix, she was given another drug to help in this area. I don't know that we've seen any additional wet diapers as a result.
Peyton's hemoglobin was down just a little again. She's getting closer and closer to requiring another blood transfusion. Her albumin levels are also down, so she may also need another albumin infusion. What she does need is iron infusions by IV. She had one dose yesterday. It's given in three doses, but the doses are two days apart. The next dose should be Thursday and then the third on Saturday. I'm told that 48 hours after the final dose, her levels will have to be checked again. That brings us to Monday next week. As far as the hemoglobin and albumin levels, those are routinely checked and we may have a better idea in the morning what they want to do in terms of transfusions.
The doctor does not believe the swelling and redness in her leg to be anything like cellulitis, so that's good. It's likely just as I described - the fluid is spilling out into the soft tissue resulting in this swelling.
Peyton did have an episode of vomiting this morning, so that prompted the nurse to first give her Zofran to help with any nausea, but then to pull back on her g-tube with a syringe to see how much more of what came up was left in her stomach. We had visitors at the time that was happening. I know other people probably aren't used to seeing most everything that Peyton has to deal with, so my apologies. It appeared that there was dark blood coming up, so she needed to see how much could be pulled out through the tube. It was about 10 mL. She thought it would be more, so that was good. It was sent off to be cultured, but I haven't heard anything about that.
Mostly right now, we are watching and waiting to see what she's going to do next. I'd say Day 9 was a "better" day, but I use that term cautiously. There are things that are looking better, but enough that isn't that it still has us pretty concerned.
Today was a day where things played out in such a way that I just received more peace about things. There is so much to give thanks for right now. I wrote about that over on my personal blog HERE. We are commanded to give thanks in all circumstances {1 Thessalonians 5:18}. Not some circumstances. Not the circumstances we decided on. ALL circumstances. That means the tough times. The times when you sit in a hospital room for going on ten days watching your child get sicker and be in so much pain you can't bear it anymore. The times when you speak with the doctors who are trying their best to figure things out but no matter what they do, things aren't improving fast enough. Those times.
One part of my day was exceptionally meaningful, but I also hold it very close to me as something very personal. It blessed my day beyond measure. Those involved know and I am still feeling so blessed by them. A "thank you" seems so insufficient.
The other part of the day was being able to sit down in relative calm to watch our church's First Wednesday service online. Matt Redman was leading worship and it was amazing. His wife spoke as well and her message was so powerful. I truly feel like all day {not just First Wednesday}, God has placed music, words, and people in my path specifically for me to hear today. First Wednesday was no exception to that. Part of it is what I'll leave you with for now.
He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. {Psalm 91:4}
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