Haven't We Seen This Movie Before?

Molly's central line, because it's a surgical procedure, was meant as a last point of entry when I.V.s and PICC lines don't work. They are more permanent and reliable. Is anyone surprised at this point that Molly's failed? At about mid-week, we noticed some leakage and bleeding from the central line, but they weren't too worried about it.

Then on Thursday, they realized that none of the fluids (including some of her medications) were going in any longer. Cue the Keystone Cops music--and here, we, go: Molly got a new peripheral I.V. (traditional) in her left hand to get her meds started again, they called in their ace PICC line nurse, Jen Fox, to get a new line in her scalp (success!), and the surgical team came down to remove the central line (which had dislodged itself to the point where they could just pluck it out). Thank goodness they were able to get the PICC line in, b/c if not (or if it fails) then they would have had to reconstruct her central line which would be a full on OR procedure with anesthesia and stress and paperwork and so on.

So it was a bit stressful when on Friday they told us that the PICC line might be clotting up. Again. Fortunately, it was a bit of a false alarm and the PICC is still operational.

In the midst of this recurring PICC/IV/Central Line debacle, the cardiologists were also starting the process of transferring Molly off of her IV heart medication (Milrinone) and onto oral equivalents. They gave her a test dose of an Ace Inhibitor. She had a very strong reaction to it (it is supposed to keep her blood pressure low, but her blood pressure dropped too low) and they discontinued the treatment. Next up, they are trying a Beta Blocker. They started the test dose yesterday, and so far her blood pressure has remained where it should. They will now begin to lower her Milrinone dose and increase that of her Beta Blocker. If all goes well, we will have cleared one of the major hurdles that are preventing us from going home. Hooray!

When the Central Line was first giving us issues (leaking and such) Molly had started becoming extremely irritable, which is unusual for her. Now that the line is out, she seems to be back to her old, calm self (unless you try to put a thermometer under her arm; then watch out!). She is such a trooper. Grandma Coffey, Aunt Lauren, Aunt Hannah and Aunt Taneisha all came down this week (fortunately before this week's craziness) to visit.

More pics!

More awake everyday!

After her baths, the mohawk really turns rocker chick.

Another in a series of cute hand positions while sleeping (with grandpa Dayman).

ANOTHER in a series of cute hand positions while sleeping (with another hat nurse naomi knitter for her).

With Aunt Lauren

With Aunt Taneisha (Lauren's friend who is going to marry Dr Mike, Molly's resident doc).

Grandma trying to wake Molly up to play.

A bonnie lass on St Patrick's Day.