Sunday, August 08, 2004

Holland's Bout With Infection

Holland took a turn for the worse on the evening of August 5th. Her platelet count dropped rather suddenly and the doctors indicated that they suspected she had an infection. Her platelet count was between 10,000 and 11,000. A normal range is between 140,000 and 450,000, so the drop was extrememly significant. Following a blood culture we found out that she was infected with a "gram negative rod" and they began treating her with some broad spectrum antibiotics to treat that type of bacteria. We eventually found out that the bacteria was called Enterobacter Clocae and the antibiotics were changed to target that bacteria. On the night of the 5th Dr. Ivacko thought it would be a good idea to sample some spinal fluid to make sure it was not infected as this would change the length of treatment. They attempted a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) but were not successful in obtaining any fluid. The morning of the 6th we called the hospital to check in and found that things were not going well. Dr. Everett informed us that Holland's platelet counts were still extremely low and that at any point things could go downhill. We rushed to the hospital early that morning and stayed all day. This was a very emotionally draining day for me as I really began to contemplate the fact that one or both of my babies might not make it. Over the course of 3 or 4 days Holland received several transfusions of platelets and packed red blood cells. She also received 2 doses of immunoglobulin. The 6th and 7th were really long stressful days and we didn't get a lot of good news regarding Holland's condition. Her platelet counts would crawl up to the mid 20's, then drop again into the teens. It was very disheartening. Finally on the morning of the 8th we were overjoyed to get good news. Platelets were up to 140,000! Through it all Holland was a really tough cookie. All of her tiny little parts continued to function and she plugged right along...

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