ER Trip

Will we ever have a weekend that doesn't involve the hospital?

Saturday evening Jorja and Raylee were eating cookies and milk. Raylee spilled her milk down the front of her. I didn't want the bandage for the central line to get wet so I took Raylee's shirt off. As I pulled her shirt over her head I heard a snap and knew the tube from the central line had snapped. I forgot we pinned it to the back of her left sleeve. The home nurse put some medical tape around the tube so we could pin it up and over Raylee's left shoulder so it was out of sight and out of mind--this was an attempt to prevent her from playing with it--it was working. We started pinning it just last Monday. I can't believe I forgot it was pinned. We have an emergency 'Central Line Go Bag' for situations like this. It comes with gauze, saline, Heparine, other items, and most importantly a small alligator clamp. I hurried and clamped the tube just like a RN showed me and then took the guaze, wrapped it around the end of the tube were it had snapped and clamped it again with another alligator clamp. I did not panic! I was super calm; the only thing I said in worry was 'Oh shit!' I am so proud of myself because I handled the situation just fine...especially since I was alone with Jorja and Raylee. Jerry had gone hiking with Travis....he needed a break...he deserved a break. The central line, also known as a Broviac, is another constant worry. They can get infected, pulled out, or broken, rather very easily.

Once in the hospital Raylee had to wear a face mask...she was not happy about that but it is a great way to protect her from germs. The staff at the emergency room front desk put us in a triage room immediately so Raylee wasn't exposed to the public in the waiting room. There they took her temperature and since she did not have a fever the RTU team came and got us. The RTU team is a unit by the ER that is a response team which assists in situations that are not life threatening and the person is not ill. Of course once we were with RTU they took Raylee's temperature again and said she had a fever....this was only 10 minutes after triage took her temperature. Not sure why her temperature was different maybe because Raylee was more upset at this time. They kindly moved us back to ER. :( The nurses in the ER and the attending MD saw Raylee immediately. They again took her temperature and it was normal; no fever. This again was maybe 10 minutes after RTU took her temperature. Since there was a documented fever of 100.4 degrees they treated Raylee with some heavy duty antibiotics and drew some blood to check her counts. This meant she had to have an IV in her hand because the central line was inaccessible. Once the antibiotic was completed the IV team came in and repaired the line by splicing a new tube within it. This is the 2nd time the tube has snapped and repaired. It keeps getting shorter and shorter. The hospital staff keep reminding us this happens all the time especially with children Raylee's age. Doesn't exactly make me feel any better because it was my fault my child just got an IV in the hand with a huge needle. We were at the ER for 4 hours. This made for a very long, very exhausting Sunday. Today we monitored Raylee's temperature closely and so far so good. I am not sure I will get use to the numbness you get at hospitals....its like a dreamlike tunnel vision state. This feeling came back yesterday as I lost track of the day and time again. Good thing is....we didn't have to stay the night and Raylee is having a good day today.