Have I mentioned how much I love Dr. Healey? Last night while he was in surgery and unable to make bedside decisions, the hospital staff did their best, but in the end Eva fell asleep with the clot producing PIC still in place, and her nutritional supplements running through a peripheral IV and burning as they entered her bloodstream. When he finished surgery at 1:30 a.m., he came to see me.  He was quite upset that the PIC had not been removed and came to her bedside to remove it personally.  He changed all her medications and nutritional supplements (TPN) to things that could easily pass through IV.  He also made the decision not to send her back to IR for a new PIC.  He stated, “It’s time to see what her body can do naturally without the nutritional supplements.”  We will talk about letting her eat again tomorrow.  We are still fighting with this chest tube situation.  The output is still higher than they would like to see but he is confident it will begin to improve very soon now that the bowel obstruction has been remedied.

The battle is far from over.  We will spend the next couple of days adding in foods slowly so as not to exacerbate the chest tube situation.  During that time we will most likely not meet her fluid and calorie intake goals as we are transitioning.   She may also experience some electrolyte imbalance as she has been removed from the TPN. The TPN is perfectly balanced with all the vitamins, calories and minerals a body needs. In the end however, I agree with Dr. Healy, it is time to start seeing what her body can do without medical assistance.

Hopefully, I will have good news tomorrow.