Sun 12/21/08 - - Recovery Day 5

Ava's fever was getting worse and there was more worry as to whether or not she had an infection.

There was a missed opportunity from Friday that made us believe that possibly it could be an infection in her central line. (there was an instance where Ava was drooling onto the openly exposed central line in her neck, though the dressing should have been changed immediately after it was noted that it was exposed.)

Both Teresa and I were able to hold Ava for the first time since pre-surgery and feed her orally with a bottle. Teresa was excited because Ava had been unable to feed from a bottle since a week or so after the original diagnosis.

But the fever was really starting to take its toll (Ava started to look sick) and they were using wash cloths soaked in ice water to lower her body temperature.

By the end of the night, the attending PICU doctor gave Ava the first dose of antibiotics (vancomycin) and removed the central line. A blood culture was drawn from both Ava's blood and the central line and sent to the labs to analyze for infection.