Back in hospital

On Monday morning Paige had her routine weekly bung change and blood test, but soon after her temperature spiked. We called the hospital but did not wait for the test results to come back - Paige looked unwell and the most likely cause was a line infection. In such cases, getting to the hospital ASAP is the best call. Sure enough, her temperature went as high as 39C and her skin was pale and blotchy. The doctor was worried enough to classify her as "high dependency". They started her on Meropenem and Teicoplanin and took some more blood for cultures. She was also given emergency fluids.

It took less that 24 hours to confirm that there was an infection in her line. This is common when a foreign object remains inside the body, but thankfully we had so far escaped this fate. The bugs live in the line and, whenever it is accessed, they are flushed into her blood and thus around the body. The initial catalyst was the blood test on Monday, and Paige's temperature also spiked every time the antibiotics were administered.

The solution is to stop using the line, while "locking" a dose of Gentamicin in it. This was done today. The Gent has to be replaced every day for the next ten days. Hopefully the first dose will kill most of the bugs, as we need to flush her line before the Gent is inserted. 

In the meantime, we still need to administer the antibiotics, and so Paige has been fitted with a cannula. This is the third time in her life that poor Paigey-Lou has had one of these. The first time was just after birth, when she was at risk of a staff infection. The second time was, of course, just over a year ago when she was diagnosed, before the line was put in. Needless to say, it is not a nice experience. The fitting itself was painful, but every time the drugs are administered, it causes an unpleasant sensation in her arm, one I have recently experienced during a CT scan. 

Nevertheless, Paige is a trooper. I spent the last 24 hours with her while Lisa took care of Sam. Her skin very quickly returned to its natural lovely shiny brown! In between the temperature spikes, she is happy and active. We hope to be home by Thursday.