As you know, Jackson had fluid around the outside of his lung yesterday. A new chest tube was inserted to drain this fluid. The doctors told us yesterday that if the drainage was only at the time of insertion and very little drained through the night then they would probably assume it was a one-time incident and not do too much digging to uncover the cause. However if it continued to drain through the night they would need to find out the cause. I have to admit I was disappointed when we walked in to see a large amount of drainage in his suction machine this morning. I wasn't sure that I liked the idea of not knowing what lead to the fluid collection either though, so perhaps this way is best. Anyway the doctors are thinking that this is probably related to their suspicions of a clot or narrowing in Jackson's superior vena cava. What they have decided to do is take him to the cardiac cath lab and explore the area. Their concern was of a possible clot on the end of Jackson's PICC line in his right arm. This PICC is now is only IV access point. What they plan to do is insert a new PICC line in his groin area, pull the other PICC line only partially out and shoot a dye through it to better assess the probable problem area. The results of this test will determine treatment. The nurse practitioner came in and reassured me that he is doing very well overall but that they want to address this before it can get any worse or more complicated. He is in the cath lab right now.
As I mentioned, neurology came by to look at Jackson this morning, and we visited some after his exam. The neurologist said, "We are encouraged by what we're seeing!" He mentioned the way that Jackson was drowsy and slowly awakened when stimulated, the way he follows with his eyes, his wonderfully strong suck on his pabby, etc and said he was responding like a normal baby. (!) The future stretches out before us with a million unknowns..."but I know Who holds tomorrow, and I know Who holds my hand."
Thank you for posting!
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