09h02
Gabriel had a good night’s sleep, first with his dad, then with his mom.
We decided to change our organization: we used to do 12-hour sessions each, but we switched to 6-hour shifts.
Gabriel is stable, with no fever.
Doctors are now considering removing his high-flow cannula and switching to a conventional one.
Paradoxically, the day’s blood tests revealed an infection somewhere: his CRP had risen to 149 (it should normally be less than 5).
We don’t quite understand at the moment…
We’re awaiting the doctor’s opinion this afternoon.
14h05
Today, Gabriel has reached a new stage in his breathing. He no longer needs compressed air or heated oxygen: he now breathes with oxygen at room temperature. His saturation is good, no fever, and clinically he’s doing well. If all goes according to plan, he may no longer need nasal cannulas in 2-3 weeks.
Today’s chest x-ray is a little better.
They think that when he’s discharged he’ll still have some after-effects (small pneumocele, atelectasis), but that these should resolve with time and physiotherapy.
UTI is now at half capacity. Many children have been released. That’s a good thing!
More staff for fewer children!
They will also continue to increase his meals, gradually withdraw the sedatives, and continue the corticosteroids over 1 or 2 months to reduce inflammation without causing withdrawal.
On the other hand, the blood tests, as I said this morning, are worrying. There are several signs of an important infection in progress. But Gabriel shows no clinical sign of infection.
We’re still waiting for other results by the end of the week to find out more…
At the same time, when I asked the doctor what he thought of the blood test results showing an infection, he told me he hadn’t seen the results… Reassuring!
For our part, it’s inevitably a little distressing to see these figures change without having all the explanations, but we try as best we can to remain confident and concentrate on visible progress.
We’re continuing to take things one step at a time, hoping that these blood results will improve over the coming days!
And in other hospital news, they’re renovating the air-conditioning in the UTI waiting room. As a result, the parents are camping out in the corridor. It’s a bit weird. Last night, I got kicked out for lying on the floor. The UTI was closed and sleeping on plastic chairs when you’re 1m90 tall isn’t great… But they took away our sofa couches a few weeks ago to force people not to stay here…
17h50
Returning to the ITU after a temporary closure, I noticed that Gabriel’s PICC (the catheter that centralizes the infusions) was dripping.
I immediately notified the team, and the problem was fixed.
They then offered to hold Gabriel in my arms. Naturally, I accepted without hesitation!
I was able to hold it against me for 40 minutes. As always, it feels great!
But soon, the infusion started beeping with a message: “Occlusion”.
This happens occasionally, often because a kinked hose prevents the liquid from passing through properly.
So they tried to reposition the pipes, then Gabriel, at least six times. And as the problem persisted, they began to wonder if it wasn’t the PICC itself that was clogged.
They tried to unclog it while he was in my arms, without success. So they put him back in bed and tried again for a good thirty minutes…
Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
I took the opportunity to share a hypothesis: could it be related to the infection shown by his blood results over the last few days?
Honestly, I don’t know, but my mother and the hospital in Lyon told me this afternoon that an infection can sometimes come from the PICC.
And since I believe in signs that repeat themselves, I prefer to ask the question, just in case.
Here, the room is closed again as they attempt to extubate Gabriel’s neighbor.
To be continued, I’m off to pick up Manuela, who’ll replace me until 2am.
