Physical Therapy

Ivee is doing as she normally does after chemo. She slept pretty much all day yesterday. Today the physical therapist came by again. We worked with her on the floor. She did really well. She even pulled herself up some to a sitting position. This is huge. She could never do this before. We still have to support her head, but the swelling is beginning to go down now. It still hurts her to pick her up, but she is showing great progress. Her swallowing test is Friday morning. Pray that we will get great results. I still can't get her to take a bottle at home to practice. I try, but she just won't take it. She is taking the pacifier very well, though. Thanks for the comments you are leaving. Many of you give great advice. Some things I already do, but hey, it doesn't hurt to offer advice. Love and blessings to you all.

Doing FINE

Ivee is doing fine. Her head is still swollen, still waiting for that to go away. She still goes to the hospital on Monday's for chemotherapy. She has a swallowing test this coming Friday. She has had a horrible case of diaper rash, again, but we are working on getting rid of it. This may be common thing for the whole 6 months of chemotherapy. She has good nights, and not so good nights. Her white blood cell count is high. This is good. Normal is anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000. Her count is 17,000. She is still having trouble with sinusitis and an ear infection even though she is on an antibiotic. Taking care of her is a full time job. She's on many medications, and a frequent feeding schedule. I have to make a hour by hour, day by day chart to make sure I don't miss anything. A physical therapist comes by two times a week to work with her. She has shown me some exercises I can do with her to help her regain her head control and strength, roll over, and maybe get her up to speed on the things she should be doing, but couldn't do before. Such as sit up on her own and prop herself up. Mommy and daddy are tired, but we are pleased to be home taking care of her. You definitely get NO rest in a hospital.
We can take her out of the house now, since her blood cell count is high. We still need to be cautious, especially around kids and people who are feeling under the weather. So, please... if you see us out and about, and you aren't feeling well, or have just been around someone who is sick, just wave from a distance. We know you care. We just need to be careful for now til we know exactly how she is going to be.
God bless, and I hope this keeps everyone satisfied until I can post again.

Tuesday and Physical Therapy

Here's Ivee riding home from the hospital last Friday.

She had a pretty good day today, and a descent night of sleep. The physical therapist came by and did an eval with her. We are going to work on getting her neck muscles strong again, and work on getting her back to rolling over and eventually sitting up. Also, to get her to push up on her legs. All the things that she should be doing for a 8 month old. She did well with her 2nd dose of chemotherapy yesterday. Her feeds are still bothering her, but we have found a way to do the bolus feeds (where we just pour it in the tube) so that she isn't as irratated. The continuous night feeds are better now, also, since we have changed the rate of cc's she receives an hour. I had to give her my first shot today. Daddy has been doing that, and mommy does all the other medical stuff. Changing dressings, giving meds, and etc. But today I had to give the shot, cause we didn't want to wake her up. So, we'll continue to heal, and continue chemo, and continue to learn again.

I also want to say give out a special tahnk you. 1st...to all of you who comment. It is such a encouragement, and sometimes, just makes me laugh. And we all know laughter is the best medicine. 2nd... There have been many people and churches who have been giving their support through prayer and financially. God bless yu all. You have allowed us to be there for each other and Ivee.

One full day at home

We have been home for more than one full day. Ivee is doing well. We have gotten many smiles from her. We believe she knows she is home, but we are not sure. I believe she does know that is not at the place where people mess with her all the time. Last night was rough. She is not responding very well to her feeds. They hurt her stomach, I believe. She was on continuous feed last night, and after a few hours of no one getting good sleep, I turned it off. Then we all got about 3 hours of sleep. We are cutting her feeds down some tonight to see if this helps. She is gagging horribly, causing her to heave. We are giving her medicine to keep her from being nauseated. She needs alot of attention with all her meds, suctioning, and feedings. It definitely won't be easy. Em and I enjoy being home with her, but it is kinda scary knowing that if something happens, there isn't a nurse at the call button. Pray that she gets over her sinusitous, ear infection, and urinary tract infection. The mucus drainage is her worst enemy right now. And also that she will begin to respond positively to her feedings. And pray that Emmett and I will be wise with her care. Thanks for your attention to Ivee and your urgency to lift her up in prayer. It was told to me that my little boy, Ethan, was praying Wednesday night at church for Ivee. And when he was done he told his teacher. God heard my prayer. He hears all prayers. I know it is true, and none of your prayers are in vain. God bless.

48 Hours later

We are now over 48 hours past chemotherapy. Ivee didn't get sick one time. Praise God! There seems to be no issues with her bladder or urine right now, which is good. She has smiled alot lately and daddy has even gotten to to laugh softly and briefly a few times. She is doing great. The swelling on her head is still there, so we are still unsure of that outcome. If she does end up needing a shunt this month, that surgery would have to take place 3 weeks from now. We just really need the swelling to go away. I know it can last a while, just need signs that it is shrinking, even if slowly. Tomorrow we have a meeting at 2 pm to discuss what we need to do at home, and what we need for home healthcare. We have learned how to clean (flush) her central line, how to suction her throat out, and how to give her a shot. Next we have to learn how to change all her dressings. We have to be really careful about infection of her wounds. She's still on antibiotics for her sinuses, ear, and urine infection.
We are taking precautions for bringing her home (which we hope will be Friday). We are having the a/c ductwork cleaned out. We had smokers that have lived there before. We just got a new a/c unit, so that is a good thing. Many people have been over to clean our house, dusted, mopped, vaccum, etc. Many thanks to them. And the doctor has cleared the fact that we have two inside dogs. They won't cause a problem. She just doesn't want them licking her on the face or anything. I assured her that they won't be near her.
Many, many thanks for those who are helping us and for those who pray for us daily. We feel so loved.

After Surgery

Ivee is sleeping, sometimes well, sometimes restless. She finished her first dose of chemotherapy 1 1/2 hours ago, and so far, all is well. The surgery went fine. The doctor said he was actually preping to take the first central line out, and it just fell out. It was simply to put the other one in, so it was relatively a short surgery. She really needs a great night of sleep tonight, cause last night, yesterday in general, was a very hard day for her. It took 9 tries to get an IV in her arm. They keep blowing out. It was horrible. But, we were just moments away from starting chemo yesterday, when the puffyness started in her neck and we noticed the leak on her side. If that hadn't have happened and we didn't know something was wrong with the line, chemo would have started, and something could have gone horribly wrong. Once again, God was just proving that he knew what was best. WEll, she is beginning to cry, so I'll be going now.

MLK Jr Day

MY LORD! KOULD something JUST go RIGHT "day." Ivee is going back into surgery today to fix the central line. The OR was closed today, but the surgeon is getting her in. I'll inform you all of more later, cause they will be here soon. Keep praying.

Today is NOT the day

We caught her smiling today...and finally got proof...

Well, Ivee was being prepared to start chemo today. They came in and put a foley cath in cause you have to collect urine before and during chemo for many reasons. They have been running her on clear fluids through the central line. Well, around 1:00 pm we noticed her neckline (front) incision becoming puffy and leaking clear fluids. The ped doc came into the view it and the nurse told me she had another "dirty" cause she had just stuck her hand in the "run" out. After she left, I went over to change her and noticed that the pads around her central line were wet and blood tinged and so was the spot on the bed. It wasn't poop but a leak from her central line. We stopped her fluids and changed the dressing out, and the nurse called the surgeon. He came and pushed some fluid through and once again the line leaked and the incision became puffy again. Obviously there is a problem with the central line AGAIN. They are going to have to come take an xray to see if we can see a problem. So, likely there will be no chemo doses starting today. She still has the cath in right now, but it isn't collecting urine the way it should be.
We are trying to not become discouraged cause God's timing is perfect.
On a good note, her cordination with her hands and eyes is getting alot better. She loves her favorite rattle, it's a bear. It makes her smile, when she is in the mood. It doesn't happen often, so we are thrilled when it does. If anything else happens, and when we know if chemo will start, I'll keep you informed. God bless, and keep on praying.

We've moved

We still don't know the results of her test from yesterday, but we have already moved to the chemotherapy floor, room 420. So, our new phone number is 415-1420. She will probably begin chemo Sunday. We have to wait 48 hours post fever. She is doing well today. She's off oxygen. She also did a swallowing test today. She actually is swallowing some now, it is erratic, but it was there. The speech therapist was pleased, and wants to feed her 15 ccs of water by mouth twice a day, cause that is the best way to practice. Plus, water is safe in case she aspirates some of it.

Not quite yet

Well, Ivee had a so-so night. She had many blowouts, which is good, cause she hadn't had a BM in days. Now, she's had many. And every time, we've had to change the sheets. She contracted a low grade fever last night, and today it got up to 101.6. Her chest x-ray came back fine, even better than the last one. So they needed to check her for meningitis, so they did another spinal tap. She did fine during it. They also took a urine and mucus sample, and took some blood for blood work. Her liver enzymes are still going down. One kind is back to normal completely, but the other still has a bit of a way to go. So...with the enzymes still up and her having a fever, we can't start chemo at least for 48 hours...so probably Monday. Well hopefully know the results of the spinal tap sometime soon. Tomorrow, Ivee has a swallowing test at 10:00 a.m. to see if she is swallowing any.
Dr. Martino came by today, and she is still looking good. He is still hopeful that we won't need a shunt. If we begin chemo and the fluid gain comes back worse, then we would have to wait 3 weeks before he could perform that surgery, cause after her 1st dose of chemo, her white blood cells would be down and there would be a great risk of infection. We are trusting in God that since all is well, she won't need a shunt.
She is still responding well to feeds, and hopefully will continue too. She is still on TPNS and Lipids as well, but we have cut back on them a bit since she is digesting well.

Okay...Okay

I've gotten a lot of flack for not blogging already today. Sorry... for those of my soap opera fans who needed their daily fix : )
Ivee looks great today...color, eyes, actions. The swelling has gone down well, still a little in her neck. According to the CT scan yesterday, her ventricles look great and alot of the other swelling has gone down. She had another hearing test, and once again her left ear failed. So there probably is some hearing loss there. Still not sure why, or if it is permanent. She is now receiving food in her G tube. She is taking well to it, and now up to 5 oz a feeding. We are slowly wenning her of the TPNs and Lipids. We have put her back on rubinol to help dry up secretions, cause we were having to suction more and more. She'll have another swallowing test tomorrow or Friday to see if there is any progress. She'll also receive one more hearing test before Chemotherapy starts. Her weight is back up to what it was when we first came to the hospital. The physical therapist came by to "play" with her for a little while and was very pleased with her progress since last time she was here.
Also, the oncologist and nurse came by with the chemotherapy plan. The short version is... she'll receive chemo for 3 months. After 3 months she'll have an MRI to see if there is any progress. Then she'll resume the same treatment for 3 more months. MRI again, and depending of the doctors opinion, we may continue on chemo or start radiation. I know, usually radiation is not done on a child under 3, but it does happen in rare cases, and Ivee's cancer is rare and agressive. Emmett and I are praying for perfect healing after her 6 months of chemo. We know God can do it. He is able. So, if her liver enzymes and blood are at the right levels, she continues to receive food fine, and Dr. Martino clears her of needing a shunt, Ivee could possible start chemo this Friday. We'll keep you posted.
LOVE YOU ALL>

This morning's prayer need

Ivee's head and face are swollen today. It is probably a build up of CSF fluid. If it doesn't drain off of her brain, we will have to put a shunt in. Please, pray that the fluid disappears. She is also receiving a 2nd hearing test. It looks as though there is some hearing loss in her left ear, which is odd, cause the tumor was on the right side, not the left side.

Pretty Good Start

This week has started off okay for a Monday. I'll give a post in just a minute on Ivee, but first I wanted to say a big THANK YOU.
Thank you for...
...the prayers that many of you lift up daily and for spreading the word of Ivee's need for prayer.
...giving to our family in time of crisis. Many of you have blessed us financially. This means so much. We have been able to take the necessary time of from work to be with Ivee in her time of need. Because of you, we don't have to worry about getting the bills paid...at least for this time. You know medical bills : )
...giving of your time. Many of you have had the opportunity to sit with Ivee for us for a few hours here and there, so that we can be with our other kids, or go grab a bite to eat. It may seem small to you, but after being in the hospital for over three weeks, it is good to get away.
...for going above and beyond. Someone, who cares to go unnamed, cleaned our house for us. I'm sorry to say that after bringing home dirty clothes and Christmas presents, the house is starting to look sorry again. But the dishes are clean, and the clothes in the kids drawers are STILL FOLDED! I just need to get the house dusted and floors cleaned when I have a chance before Ivee, Lord willing, comes home in a week or so. Whoever you are THANK YOU. You have left me with a light load, and that means alot
...for the offers. Many of you have said if we need anything to just give you a call. You know I can't remember who all of you are. But the offer means alot.
SO THANKS to you all.
Okay, now back to Ivee. She had a good night last night. She did go into surgery today, but they only thing the Docs had to do was move the line back about a quarter of an inch, and that did the trick. So no more cutting, just stitching. She has rested well afterwards, but her face seems a bit swollen to us. They will try to start her on foods as soon as they hear from the dietician, and get her slowly off of the TPNs and Lipids. She is now only on Zantac for reflux and pain meds when needed.
The oncologist, Emran, came to see us today. He said her Liver enzymes are up, but they believe that is from one of the meds she was on. So they took her off the med. and will check to see if that was the cause of that problem. When her liver is cleared, the next day we will start chemotherapy. The plan was given to us today. She will be on chemo for 6 months. In 3 months she'll get an MRI to see what the progress is. By 6 months, she'll be over 1 year old, and if the tumor is still present she will begin radiation. Did I mention that the bone marrow, bone sample and spinal tap for CSF all came back clear (negative). We knew it would, cause God revealed the tumor just in the time that needed to be, and we are believing that he did this for a reason. Cause if it had been any later there would be "no hope", as the doctors say. I am believing in complete healing from the true physician. I know that even though the doctors believe chemo will have no affect on this type of tumor, my God is able to do abundantly more than man can even imagine. He wants to work a miracle in Ivee, and in many ways, already has.
So be in prayer that the central line will continue to work, and that God has all the glory in the victory in Ivee's life. Also, pray that she will have the least amount of side affects from the chemotherapy. There is so much more that I could tell you from the doctors stand point, but none of that matters when God is in control. Continue to spread the word so that God can be glorified. Your sister...Hope

Maybe not...

Here is Ivee a few days ago. She was playing around with her mouth, opening back and forth. She is looking much more like herself. This is prior to this past Friday's surgery.

Here is Ivee watching NEMO, her favorite movie, Friday morning.

Well, we thought perhaps we would never see the operating room for a while, but I guess not. I'll start with what's happen over the last 24 hours. After the older kids ball games yesterday, we returned to the hospital to check on Ivee. She was resting well. I left her under the care of my dad's watchful eye for the night. He said she had a rough night until about midnight. Then things calmed down. We got a phone call from dad this morning around 9:50 am, saying that Dr. Martino, the neurosurgeon, came in, and her wound in the back of her head was still leaking. So, he wanted to suture it again to stop it from leaking any further, cause he doesn't want to put a shunt in. We don't want that either. She's had enough surgeries and stuff done. And through out life, shunts can cause other problems, surgeries, test and infections. So, they took her into the PICU (peds. Intensive care unit), gave her some sedatives, and did a suture to her head. Only about 3 or 4 stiches in the one spot that is leaking. The leaking didn't become really bad until the original sutures were removed. It is believed that the removing of those stiches probably opened the wound some more, causing the excess of fluid. She is on a diaritic to help dry up the extra csf fluid.
They were going to begin giving her food in her tube today, but we have found out that she is going back into surgery tomorrow. This time, to change or repair the central line so that we can get blood return from it. So, we will once again be visiting the operating room in the morning. The cycle seems to never end. We did get to go to church this morning, even though I felt compelled to be at the hospital as her mother. But something inside me said, "What can you do? Sit in the waiting room? She'll be fine. Your dad is there. She's in the BEST hands. God's!" Worship was great. Joel's (my pastors) sermon was a great word. Of course, it dealt with trials and struggles. 1 Peter 1:6-9. The part of the sermon that gave me great comfort was...Trials come to that your faith may be proved genuine...Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith...
It is a comfort to know that my faith is revealed as genuine this side of heaven.
Once again, your comments are a joy for me to read. For those who know Emmett and I, you know our sense of humors. There are some of you who don't know us, but your comments are a relief for us. We enjoy your little comments of "comedic" relief. Everyone is awesome.
As you leave your comments, you are welcome to leave your email address, and I'll add you to my email list. I may also make an email account where you can send emails to us. I haven't decided if I am going to do this yet. God bless you all, and thanks for the spreading of the word. The prayers are spreading across the world.
Here is Ethan at his 1st ball game this past Saturday.











And below is Brittney...She is in blue.

A long day away from the Hospital

Today was a long day away from Ivee. The kids had basketball games all day, so a friend, Catina, and my dad sat with Ivee. Her wound on the back of her head is still leaking some, so they put a pressure dressing on it, and will put dermabond on it (kinda like super glue). It's not bad, but we need to pray that it stops, cause the last thing Ivee needs is a shunt in her head now. Hopefully, we are done with all the surgeries for at least 6 months to a year. We pray so, cause they wipe her out everytime, and she really needs to just recover as much as she can. Chemotherapy is coming next week, and they will be hard. Pray that she will be one of the few who does not get sick from chemotherapy. That would be such a blessing! She is sleeping well, and only really gets fussy when it is close to pain medicine time, or when someone is touching her or changing her diaper. Her diaper rash is looking so much better. It was horrible. It is no longer bleeding. The oncologist will have test results Monday, but today he said that some alot of the result from the bone marrow came back negative, and we will know the rest of that report on Monday. Praise God!!! Many of you have called me and left messages. I got them but frankly have been busy when you called, and too tired to call you back later. Not trying to ignore you. Promise. I love all of you, and thanks for the thoughts and prayers. You are great, and the God we serve is awesome.

After Surgery Number 3

Ivee had a pretty good night last night. Mommy got brave and left Ivee with papaw for the night, while me, daddy, Britt and Ethan went home for a night. The kids are back in school, so we are wanting to try to get back to a somewhat normal existence. When I came in this morning, daddy was already here and Ivee was watching Nemo (her favorite movie). She looked really good, cheeks just a little swollen and reddish. She is sucking on both her thumbs, well, more like naughing on them. We waited a long time for her to be taken to surgery. She didn't have a set time, so it was a waiting game. Around 11:30 a.m., we headed down to pre-op. We found out, after they took her back for surgery around 12:20 p.m., that they needed to add two more procedures. The total surgery time would be between 2 to 3 hours. We got a phone call around 2:00 p.m. saying that her surgery actually started at 5 til 1:oo. Well, she finally came out of surgery at 5:50 p.m.... about 5 hours later. Over all she had the following done: the stiches removed from her head, spinal tap, bone marrow extraction, bone sample extraction, stomach/esophagus binding, opening of sphincter to small intestine, and a gastric (feeding) tube inserted in her abdomen. They did not get to check her central line, like the oncologist wanted them too. We will try to do this at a later date to see if we can get better return blood flow from it. They added the stomach/intestines procedure, cause the oncologist is afraid that once we start chemo and she begins to throw up, that she will aspirate fluid and this could cause fluid in the lungs. Her immune system will be down, so any chance of getting pneumonia would be very bad in her condition. So, the stomach binding and intestines opening will help to stop this from happening. She did great during the surgery, and she is in her room now and still doing fine. Dr. Emran, the oncologist, said that all her test results should be in Monday, and he will also go over the details of chemotherapy treatment that day. We will not be going home before starting chemo treatment. Treatments will probably begin at the end of next week and last 3 to 5 days. By the time we get to go home, we would have been in the hospital for a month. Pray that she heals quickly and with very little pain from the surgery. She was really starting to become more like her old self, and we are sure that she will probably regress. Thanks for the comments, and keep them coming. They mean more than you know. With love, Hope and Emmett

The day before my 3rd surgery

Here is a beautiful picture of Ivee holding my dad's hand post surgery. Isn't it sweet?
Ivee goes back into surgery tomorrow mid-morning for the following: insert a gastric line, get a spinal tap, get bone marrow, get a bone sample, remove the stiches from her head wounds, and check her central line in her belly cause they can't get blood return on it but can push fluids in. The bone scan from yesterday showed that her bones are clear or any growths. It also showed incidentally that her kidneys have reflux. The oncologist said this isn't really anything to be concerned about. It is just something that usually happens in people who have alot of bladder infections.
She had a good night of sleep last night, about 6 hours. That is the best rest she has had yet. And she has been quite restful today. She had a hearing test. Her left ear passed. Her right ear may be affected by the surgery. We won't know yet. We just know it didn't pass today's test.
Her PH test from yesterday revealed that she does have gastric reflux (heartburn). I already knew that from all the times she would constantly spit up on me. So she is on zantac. She is off her antibiotics and no fever has returned. She still has a horrible case of diaper rash, but it is beginning to heal.
She is looking around and reaching for stuff today. That is a great step. Oh, and I forgot to mention that in the middle of all of this, she got her first tooth!
TODAY... she did something we thought we wouldn't see for a long time. She SMILED! Twice.
We truly appreciate all of your comments. They give us encouragement. Paula, thank you for the bit of research you did on her name. Ivee, for those who want to know, is the name of my grandmother, my dads mom, who passed away about a year ago. So her name is very special, just like Ivee is.

2 weeks post 1st surgery

It is 2 weeks post surgery for Ivee. Her head is looking good, and her stiches will come out soon. For those who don't know, her incision on the back of her head starts about 2 inches behind her right ear and travels at a curve down past her neck and shoulders. About 5 inches long. And there is an incision on the top of her head a little over and inch long from the external drainage port they had to put in until her ventricles began to drain the CSF (brain fluid) of her brain like normal brains do. They have done a CT scan of her this past Monday and her ventricles look good. If this continues there will be no need for a shunt (a tube that drains CSF fluid if the body can't naturally do it itself.) I know a lot of my teens out there are reading this, so I want to make sure you are clear. I'll put a lot of explanations in there for you (love you Natalie : )!!!
They have had some trouble with Ivee's central line. They needed labs two nights ago, and they tried and tried to get blood return and couldn't, which is one of the reasons to have a central line... no more sticking. So at 3 am Ms. Ambe (the lab tech) came in and stuck her for blood. (The doctors needed to do blood work to see if the blood transfusion was doing it's job). They got out the door, and 30 minutes later came back in cause the blood they had drawn already clotted in the tube. So this time they stuck her heal instead of her hand. Then after they got as much as they could, which wasn't enough, they tried to get blood return on her central line just "one more time" and of course got blood. After all that.
Ivee is almost at the end of her 24 hour PH test to check the acidity of her digestive system before they can put a GI tube in (feeding tube). More than likely Dr. Powell, the surgeon will perform the GI surgery, will want to do a GI test before the surgery. A GI test looks and sees what the whole digestive system is doing from start to finish.
Today she is having a bone scan and hearing test. She is on morphine for pain and benadryl for itching, and she is on 5 other medications...Antibiotics, steroids, a medicine to relax the stomach, and a medicine to dry up secretions. And since she can't eat, she has TPNs and Lipids going into her central line for nutrition. (those are nutrients and fats)
She had a really ruff night last night, and today her central line is oozing. So the surgeon had to come in and fix it. She and mommy didn't get much sleep.
I have my ups and downs. Most of my downs come at night when I am alone and lacking any descent sleep. The Lord has his moments of reminding me he is still in control, but in my human mind many thoughts come and go. I try to cling to Psalms 40, especially verses 1-3. "I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and hear my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put trust in the Lord."
We are in room 510 at USA. Our room phone number is 415-1510. Sometimes we answer and sometimes we are in the middle of something. We like visitors, but you may need to call first to make sure we are there. She has many test that happen, so sometimes we are not in the room.
Thank you once again for your prayers and thoughts, and for the many gifts and visits. We know we are loved!!!!!!

Beginning week 2

(This is a picture of me my 2nd day in the hospital, before my first surgery. The bruise on my forehead is the only thing I received from the fall)

(This is post first surgery)

(This is Saturday after my second surgery)

Ivee had a ruff night last night. We believe she is in pain, but we just can't know since she can't tell us. The doctor prescribed morphine and it would allow her to rest for about 2 to 3 hours, but then she would begin crying again. The doctor came back in and Emmett was holding her, which after 20 minutes she would calm down. Em just told the doc...I could guess all night what is wrong with her, but neither I or you can know. All I know is she calms down when I hold her, and back before this, when she had headaches and we didn't know it, holding her would give her enough comfort to help her sleep. The doctor agreed and said... well we know you can't hold her all night, so she prescribed morphine and needed. That helped from 4 am to 8 am. The doctor then came in at 8:30 am and told us that Ivee's red blood cell count is low. It should be between 12 and 15 and hers is at 6.9. She was going to require a blood transfussion. Dr. Martino, the neurosurgeon, came into check on her, and we asked what he thought caused her lack of blood cells. He does believe it is the two surgeries she has endured over the last 14 days.
So, as of right now, Ivee is getting a blood transfusion, and reacting to it well. As with all blood transfusions, there is risk of rejection and infection. Problems are usually noticed in the first 15 minutes, and it has been an hour. She is resting and doing well.
Tomorrow she'll have a PH test to check the acidity in her digestive system. This will ade in the decision on her GI (digestive) line to get her food. That surgery will probably be done with all the others will be done sometime this week.
This is what is happening today. I keep a journal of what is going on with Ivee everytime something happens. If anyone want to leave a comment or ask a question just click below to leave a comment. Thanks for your prayers, and keep on praying.