They were able to get Kate's fever down. She has gotten very lethargic, which is not great. They really want her to be a bit wakeful because it helps get blood pressure up. They are a little concerned but are adjusting her meds. She is putting a ton of fluid into her tissues, rather than into her vessels, where it needs to go. She has three chest tubes which do a great job of getting rid of the fluid in her tissues, but she needs the fluid in her vessels for her heart to beat.
She is still on the pacemaker and cannot get off that until the fluid/blood pressure thing is stabilized. They have her heart beating at 165 beats a minute and have not been able to lower it successfully. It needs to be at 110. The fast heartbeat causes the fever--which causes the swelling in her heart--which causes her heart to not beat on it's own--etc.
Dr. Bove was here and I missed him AGAIN. argh. The nurse said that he never comes over to chat with parents while the kids are in PICU unless it's a little Chinese adoptee. She said he cares about all his patients, but the Chinese adoptees have a soft spot in his heart. He had seen me sitting here, and when he came over to her bed, she pulled up a chair and asked where I was. I had just walked downstairs to grab some lunch. drat.... He is wonderful and I cannot believe how humble he is. I know...I've said that before. :)
She is lying spread eagle on the bed today...so cute.
