Lots of updates from the past 24 hours. I apologize about the posting delay, but we were waiting for the latest news before sharing what we know at this point.
They have now confirmed that the infection from her hips traveled to her abdomen. One of the infectious disease doctors sat with a radiologist for an hour and a half last night and proved that the infection was able to travel through Tess' inguinal canal to her abdomen. That canal is closed on older children and adults, but still open on babies of Tess' age. Our main medical team couldn't say enough amazing things about this particular infectious disease doctor (I'll get his name for future posts). He's practiced all over the world and they're so happy to have him here at Children's now.
Tess' abdomen has grown a bit over the last 24 hours and that's the main focus now. She'll be heading down for an ultrasound in a little while to see why that abdomen continues to grow. After the ultrasound, one of two things will happen:
1. If the ultrasound shows no additional fluid compared to this past Tuesday's ultrasound, they won't do anything. That would mean it's gas in Tess' abdomen and that'll work itself out over the next few days.
2. If the ultrasound shows additional fluid, they'll do a paracentesis. That's a bedside procedure where a needle will be inserted into Tess to draw some of the fluid. Two main benefits: Relieve some of the pressure that may be causing her pain and see what's in that fluid. Examining and testing the fluid will help the infectious disease team determine a targeted antibiotic for Tess. The parecentesis would be drawing fluid from her abdomen, not her stomach (the NG tube is already keeping that empty).
Dr. Booker visited this morning and Tess' hips are looking good. The incisions are healing nicely and the brace is working out well. I'm sure Tess is wondering why her legs are fixed in such a crazy position, but she'll get used to it in another day or two.
We also just had a visit from a doctor who is focused solely on Tess' pain. They're trying to figure out what is causing Tess the most discomfort and then how best to target it. More on that in future posts after we hear their recommendations.
On a separate note: We can't say enough about what wonderful friends and family we have. Your notes, calls, texts, visits and prayers are all so appreciated. I'll stop right there because that's an awful lot of sharing for this Norwegian Lutheran. Denise would probably use the word love several times while expressing the same sentiment (and I would agree with her).
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