Updates At Last

Sorry about the delay in posting to the blog. We had a busy morning of doctor's visits and a CT scan. We have been battling High temperatures, low blood pressure, a high heart rate, and extremely low blood sugar all morning. With these various conditions making her feel pretty bad, Katie was less than cooperative a good deal of the time. However, with that out of they way, I can sit down at a computer and pass along some information.

Despite having a morning blood pressure reading of 42 over 34 and a resting heart rate of 166, Katie is now in far better condition. Her last reading, about ten minutes ago, was 81 over 46 with a resting heart rate of 120. Those numbers are optimal, but they sure look good to us. Her sugar levels this morning were down in the 40's as well despite being on a glucose enriched IV all night. I am happy to report that her sugar levels rose to 112 after a light snack. Unfortunately, her sugar levels are very unstable and are prone to drop quickly for the slightest reason. We spoke with an endocrinologist today who explained that we can't know for sure what is causing her unstable sugar levels at this point because of her condition and the amount of drugs in her system. Therefore, we are just going to have to treat her condition when the problem arises and be aware of situations that will put her at the greatest risk for hypoglycemic states. She will be sent home with a testing kit and we will have to pick her finger every day for a while to monitor her glucose levels and try to keep her from becoming hypoglycemic.
Katie's high heart rate is a warning sign, but not something that the doctors are specifically trying to treat at this point. They believe that it is caused by her body struggling to deal with everything else that is wrong in her body and that it will slow to a normal rate when they get a handle on everything else.

Katie has been suffering from some stomach pains that have so far been unresponsive to treatments and the source is still unidentified. For that reason, a CT scan was ordered this morning and Katie's veins were pumped full of a dye before the scan to help the doctors see everything there was to see. The results... inconclusive. They found extra water around her stomach and on top of her diaphragm but the source of the water is unknown and it is also unknown if the amount of water is enough to cause a problem. It may be IV solution seeping out of her veins. The IV solution is definitely finding its way into various places in her body. Her face is all puffy as if she were having an allergic reaction, but it is just the extra fluid.

Hopefully, I didn't write this in a way that seems all doom and gloom. She does seem to be getting better. She is fever free at the moment with a temperature of just 36.7c (98.06F) and she is relatively content. As the afternoon and evening draw on, she will be watching a lot of TV, playing with some play dough and just hanging out. Much of the crying and whimpering in pain and discomfort has ended. So, we'll wait and see what tomorrow brings.