Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words and prayers for Myka today. It was a trying and scary morning, as Myka woke up lethargic, with a high fever, stomach pain, a bit dehydrated and eventually threw up. The insertion of her new biliary drain from earlier this week was clearly bothering her, so we rushed her here to the Emergency Room at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
After unclamping her biliary drain to let it “breathe” and getting some IV fluids, she began to perk-up later in the morning and her fever broke. Because of her high-risk condition, she was admitted to the transplant floor quickly. Her blood work, x-ray and ultrasound have all come back with stable results this afternoon, with no emergent abnormalities. (We’re especially thankful the RSV / FLU tests came back NEGATIVE) The doctors are most concerned (not alarmed) that her new biliary tube is draining/leaking too much and causing all of these additional issues. Changing her drain bandages on her stomach this afternoon was an ordeal.
They believe that the clamping/unclamping of her bile bag this week released some bacteria in her system that’s working its way out. They’re closely monitoring her bloodwork this weekend to see how all her various levels trend and studying her blood cultures to watch for infection. We’ll be hospitalized until at least Monday, when another PTC procedure is scheduled to go in and look at the bile ducts more closely. Until then, they want to keep a close watch for complications and setbacks, like fever, infection, bleeding, etc. So, we’ll be waiting things out for the weekend. As you can imagine, this is not an ideal time to be quarantined to the hospital. If you’d like to join us in prayer, here’s a few requests for the weekend:
- PRAY against serious setbacks, like infection, fever, bleeding, etc.
- PRAY for Myka’s new biliary drain to slow the excessive leakage and begin draining normally.
- PRAY for Myka to regain her appetite and strength, as we wait out the weekend.
- PRAY for a successful repeat PTC procedure within her narrowing bile ducts again on Monday.
- PRAY for wisdom for the doctors and nurses as they navigate caring for all of the patients here at CHP during these unprecedented times.
- PRAY for perseverance and strength for our family, as we navigate another hospitalization during a heightened healthcare crisis.
We’ll plan to update everyone towards the end of the weekend, as we approach an additional procedure on Monday. As always, we appreciate your support, encouragement and prayers in the interim.
Love – Richie, Regan, Alivia & Myka