Halloween, More Complications and Early November

During the day on October 31st, our daughter had a busy day. She had two drain tubes removed. Some medications were reduced or stopped, she had a new PICC line inserted and the old one removed. A PICC line is a thin, soft, long catheter that is inserted into a vein in the arm, leg, or neck. The tip of the catheter is positioned in a large vein that carries blood into the heart. The PICC line is used for long-term intravenous (IV) antibiotics, nutrition or medications, and blood draws. Overall it was a good day with progress being made.…

After Surgery and the First Several Days Post OP

The first time we saw our daughter was around 3 am the day after she was born. She had made it through surgery and was in the Pediatric ICU. On the way over to see her, we didn’t know what to expect. Having been awake for almost 24 hours, walking into her room was overwhelming on a whole different level. Our daughter was 7 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches at birth and was dwarfed by the bed she was laying in combined with the amount of equipment surrounding her sustaining her life. She was still intubated and on the…

OHSU Diagnosis, Consultations, and Surgery

Arrival at OHSU and the NICU Arriving at OHSU we parked at the ambulance parking near the emergency room entrance and took an elevator to the NICU. As the PANDA team, our daughter, and myself entered the NICU we were met by a NICU doctor. The NICU at OHSU was set up into pods which were areas where 2-3 babies were located and being taken care of by the staff. The pod of the NICU our daughter was taken to was in the back corner. As we passed the other pods most were full of premature babies and neonatal infants…