update

There really was not too much change yesterday or overnight. Dr. Bodee did get the results back from all the cultures they sent out Thursday. His blood and fluid samples from both chest tubes came back with signs of e-coli bacteria. This was surprising to us initially as Charlie obviously has not eaten any undercooked meat lately, but Dr. Bodee explained that e-coli is a naturally occurring bacteria in the digestive system and his body with everything going on just wasn't able to keep it in check. A frightening side note is that e-coli can also be a marker for meningitis. They take no chances in the NICU and within a couple hours of getting the results they performed a spinal tap to check his spinal fluid for meningitis. The fluid was clear and initial tests show no signs of anything to be concerned about. That was a huge relief! Dr. Bodee tweaked his antibiotics slightly to target the e-coli more specifically. They seem to be working and his color is slowly returning, but they will run another blood test today just to make sure that the bacteria is under control.

Charlie's left chest tube also stopped draining yesterday. This was the one that was put in a week ago after the post-surgery fluid build-up. They were not sure if it stopped draining because the fluid levels were under control or is there was a clog in it. Because of the infection and the fact that the repair and gortex patch are on that side, they decided to remove the tube. There was a clot at the end of the tube when they took it out, so that was evidently the reason for the lack of drainage. We are expecting that the tube will have to be put back in somewhere down the road, but obviously we hope we are wrong! His numbers stayed pretty good afterwards - except his heart rate was higher than they would like. Overnight they kept him sedated and that helped keep his heart rate in check. They did another chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't fluid build up causing it and didn't see any problems. So, chances are its just the infection and him not feeling well that is causing the increase in his heart rate. Hopefully when we go up today he will be feeling better after having a full two days of antibiotics. We will keep you posted!