Hiccup

Author: Sarah

Porter and I got to take a ride in the UVM Health Network's newest critical care transport truck yesterday.  Porter woke up Friday morning very fussy and vomiting.  We have a pretty low threshohold for behavior changes with Porter (for obvious reasons) so after touching base with the folks at BCH and UVM we decided to head to the UVMMC emergency department for evaluation and IV fluids.

The emergency department is not the place you want to hang out with your child but we were warmly received by our UVM team.  Porter and Katie had several visitors from PICU including "Uncle" Nurse Pat who took Katie to her favorite place in the hospital: the gift shop.  They came back with a new pair of purple sunglasses for Porter and a bracelet making kit for her.  A perfect distraction.

Our medical teams decided right away that Porter should be transferred to BCH.  Our friend Nurse Clare hooked me up with ear plugs and an eye mask to help me sleep better while in Boston--THANK YOU!  Doctors Amelia an Iris came down to check on us and helped to coordinate Porter's care.  We are so grateful for our UVMMC family!

Ready for a ride in the big rig with the Boys in Green.

Thanks to the transport team for a quick and smooth ride.  They handed Porter and me off to the Emergency Department staff at BCH around 3:30.  Chris had dropped Katie off with my Mom and was about two hours behind us.  It's a good thing he arrived when he did and with food in hand...my stomach grumbles were about to become embarrassingly loud!

Spilled drain juice on Mom. Lovely ED replacement apparel!

After some more tests the Transplant team is pretty confident that Porter has developed an infection inside his abdominal cavity;  most probably from some extra fluid in there or perhaps from the drain itself.  The plan is IV antibiotics and to get the drain out soon so that it does not remain an infection risk.  The great news is that Porter's liver labs all look good no signs of rejection so far.  Hopefully we caught this infection early enough that we can clear it quickly and be home by the end of the week.