Busy day!

Ron's surgery went well. They were able to accomplish exactly what they had hoped which was to clean out the infection, and remove the portion of the clotted vein involved. They used a doppler to make sure he was getting good blood flow both above and below infected side. Dr H said he may have some residual clot floating around further up the vein but he will continue on Lovenox injections (blood thinner) for a while so this should not pose a problem.

His PICC line was on his right upper arm which is in the same area he had ruptured his bicep tendon. Since surgery he is having some numbness on the back side of his upper arm which is most likely due to inflammation. Praise God he is able to move all fingers as well as his thumb! He's a little sore but is able to keep on top of it with morphine. They decided not to use a wound vac since they didn't want to put that suction on the arteries and nerves. They closed a portion of the incision but left the center open to heal from inside out which will hopefully keep any residual infectious junk from breeding.

A couple of areas of concern:
he's had several veins collapse and are having difficulty finding any good ones; they don't want to do another picc or central line until they get infection knocked out
blood pressure has been running on the low side (low 80's over low 50's)
glucose has been a little on the high side
none are horrible things but they are definitely keeping an eye on things

Ryan, Stacee and Aaron spent the better portion of the day up here with us; always love their company! Ron was very happy to be able to take a shower this evening. Just like the "old days" at Presby; we got wound dressing covered, IV site covered and then allowed him to enjoy a warm shower and shave. The little things in life we take for granted!

Since he doesn't have a PICC line they are doing PPN, which is a watered down IV nutrition that runs through regular IV; will have to continue on this until infection has cleared and they feel comfortable about placing another line.

We're thinking he'll most likely be here until Tuesday.

Thanks for praying; goodnight all and have a restful weekend.
Christie