Today Luke had a CT scan and had his central line removed and a port put in. We would rather have nothing, but Luke is so hard to get an IV in that it will save him pain in the long run if he has IV access without having to try to find a vein each time. Before the central line they routinely had to stick him 10 to 20 times to get an IV. And since he is still getting surgery after surgery, we need to keep access as easy as possible. The port is really just another type of central line, but it is under the skin rather than hanging out. But it should be so much better for all of us than the line he has right now. After the site heals, the port will be under the skin and Luke won't need a bandage. He will actually be able to have his chest washed for the first time in 9 months. We will only have to do maintenance on the port once a month, rather than once a day like we are doing now. Right now we have to try and be so careful too not to pull the line or get it wet, and both things can be really difficult. Luke has been trying to learn how to commando crawl lately and the line has been right in the way. Needless to say we have been really looking forward to this surgery and are really excited to have it done. They put the port on the right side on the upper part of his chest. Luke is home safe now, but a little sore and groggy.
The CT scan is of his ears to check the fluid in his mastoid cavity. Since his ears have had more awful drainage than usual for the past couple of months, Dr. Hill might go ahead and clean out one of Luke's mastoid cavities during his next dilation surgery, July 25th. It would probably only be a short term procedure, but it could make a difference. Sometimes once an infection has begun the mastoid actually gets infected and becomes a new source of infection rather than just a conduit. Dr. Hill will be able to compare this CT to the one Luke had done in the fall and see if anything has changed. In the fall both mastoid cavities were full of fluid, so I would expect that they will see the same thing today. We will let you know when we get the results.
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3 comments:
Glad Luke's procedure went well and that he is back home now.
I bet the port is going to be wonderful for you! I'm glad Luke is doing well after his surgery. I hope all goes well with his ears too.
i often wonder if the veinal access is a charge thing or a to many hosptials thing when my mum was on the lsit there was a bit of talk between her and some parents on that issue think they figured the drs can never say but they figured that if you have as many hosptials as we do then ur likely to have difficult access i even had trouble when it came to lines and ports hugs ellen
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