So the weekend on the vac went very well. There was minimal to no pain associated with it and it seemed to do its job very well. In fact, when Dr. LaQuaglia went to change the wound vac to a smaller sponge today, he decided it was healing well enough to take it out completely! Since Eli’s TPN and antibiotics can be taken at “home”, they are going to actually try to send us back to the Ronald tomorrow and potentially have us start the beta glucan on Wednesday. We’ll believe it when it actually happens, but Eli is now very excited at the potential of going back to the Ronald. There is some work involved. First of all, he is going to have to take 4 different antibiotics by mouth, which should go over as well as a pregnant lady in a catapult. No offense to any pregnant ladies reading this (we love you lots Jennifer). 🙂 We will also be continuing his 12 hour TPN, which we can do at night when he goes to bed, but that involves mixing vitamins and lipids into bags and hooking him up to a pump. Nothing we haven’t done before, though.
Finally, we’ll have to do a dressing change on Eli’s wound twice a day each day. Long time followers of this CarePage know that Eli does not like dressing changes, but this is unlike any dressing change we’ve ever had to do. You see, Eli still has a big gaping hole in his stomach where his belly button used to be. About 3 inches tall by one inch wide and half an inch deep. So we have to take gauze and wet it with saline and then stuff his wound with it with a long ended q-tip. The whole area in which we are working has to be as sterile as a mule (sorry, you city folks might not get that joke) and it is extremely painful for Eli. Let’s just say that due to the screaming, we won’t be doing these dressing changes in the early morning or late evening when people might be sleeping at the Ronald McDonald House. Hopefully, this open wound will get smaller and smaller each day until it eventually heals up. Good thing Lacey and I aren’t squeamish people.
So, that is the news for now. I’ll let you know if we actually do get out of here tomorrow (after being inpatient here 27 nights) and whether we start the beta glucan on Wednesday or not. This has been a very long haul and we are excited at the possibility of moving forward with 3F8 since it has been delayed quite a bit. Thank you for being there with us in prayer. We still need prayer for Eli’s pain management as he often struggles with pain in his teeth (long time problem needing resolved ASAP) and his tummy. Thanks!
Facebook
Twitter