Haven was originally scheduled to go back into the operating room this afternoon for an attempt to stop the drainage on the right side of her chest, but her white blood cell count made a drastic jump up this morning which is the first sign of an infection. So, very similarly to last week, they have sent off blood tests and started antibiotics to try and fight off anything that might be trying to come on. They say that it is normal for kids to have an elevated white blood cell count after having a pleurodesis done (which is one of the surgeries she had last Tuesday), but they also say that if the count is going to elevate, it usually does it two or three days out of surgery (not six). They have not rescheduled the operation at this time. Thankfully, Haven hasn’t shown any other signs of an infection, so hopefully she’ll have a good day today and maybe get in the O.R. tomorrow.

A couple other issues seemed to have sprung up over the past 12 hours or so. As you know, we started her feeding back up on Friday. She seems to have tolerated them fairly well, but she has become very bloated and the extra gas her body is creating is making her quite uncomfortable. They stopped feeds early this morning (because she was going to surgery today), but we don’t know when they will be started up again because of some of these other issues.

Early Sunday morning the drainage tube on the right side of her chest came out, so since yesterday morning all the fluid that had been draining has been accumulating in her chest cavity. Originally, this was not a major concern because she was going to the O.R. today to get that taken care of, but since she is not going in today, they may have to insert another drainage tube to take out the backed up fluid. It is technically a surgical procedure, but it can be done at the bedside.

Late last night we noticed that Haven’s heart rate was not acting normal. It was very similar to what we saw a month ago when she had her atrial flutter. We shared our concern with the doctors this morning and they too suspect that the atrial flutter may have returned. So, we will be meeting with them later this afternoon to discuss what needs to be done about this issue.

On a more positive side, Haven is no longer in her warmer bed. We transferred her into what we have affectionately called her “big girl bed”. She has been moved into an actual crib so we can start sitting her up and hopefully get her to be in different positions to help her develop some physical movement that she should be getting (but she’s been laying on her back for 3 months!). We’re pretty excited about this. It’ll make her room a bit more cramped because the crib is considerably larger than the warmer, but it will be worth it. We’ll be sure to keep you all informed this week as all of these issues get addressed.