June 4, 2009

The culture of the PICC line came back positive for bacteria today - it didn't have lots of bacteria, but enough obviously that it can cause problems. They took Bryce down to ultrasound and put a new Pic line in the other arm. They had quite a difficult time so it took quite awhile, but at least it is done now.

The PICC line is a central line that is threaded up through the veins and ends right above the heart - they use this line to give him TPN (Total Parental Nutrition) - he hasn't had really anything to eat or drink now for five weeks except for a little ice and sucking on a toothette dipped in a liquid.

We were told wrong on his labs yesterday - his bilirbubin was actually 19+ yesterday and his white blood count was 52,000. Interestingly today his bilirubin was 16.8 and his white blood count was 55,000 - basically the same values I reported yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow we will continue to see a positive trend.

Bryce continues to be quite weak. We need to ensure that physical therapy works with him each day. They often will come, but Bryce is having dialysis or something else going on and then it doesn't happen. He has done well to sit in a chair a couple of times per day, but he hasn't walked as much lately as he did when he was in ICU.

Although Bryce continues to have a lot of anxiety he is keeping a very positive attitude. Today he told me that he plans to use his "thumbs up" sign more to show others that he is positive! I thought that was cool.

I guess we have become accustomed to Bryce's appearance. My younger brother, Dennis, visited yesterday and had not seen Bryce since he was on a ventilator about 3-4 weeks ago. We went down to lunch together afterwards and I asked him why his forehead was covered with perspiration. He told me that he was not prepared to see how bad Bryce looked and it actually made him sick to his stomach. Today Bryce asked to look at himself - he said he only got a quick glance last week when he took a shower. After he looked at himself in the mirror he said I just look like a guy who has cancer and didn't make a big deal of it.

Please keep the prayers for him coming as well as many others who are struggling with their own challenges at this time.