| Amanda Update |
| (Last Updated: January 23rd, 2002) |
| What a rollercoaster ride we are on! Amanda is looking much better. The "infection" didn't last too long. She started feeling better and began pulling out the tracheal tube several times. They decided to put her back on the C-PAP respirator within a couple of days. Several different specialists have examined her and now believe that her central intraveneous lines have been the cause of her mysterious infection-like problems. They are not sure if she is having some sort of allergic reaction to a material in the tubing or if her body is simply mounting a defense to what she perceives as a foreign body. Either scenario appears to be extremely rare in preemies. In fact, they've never seen this type of reaction and have even gone as far as calling the line manufacturer for consultation. We knew she was one in a million, but come on. The doctors and nurse practitioners would like to make Mandy's intraveneous line problems a non-issue by overcoming her feeding intolerances. However, until they can get her feedings up to normal levels, she relies on peripheral I.V.'s for nutrition. The problem is that she's running out of these sites. Amanda's digestion has always been a problem, so they decided to do a complete upper and lower G.I. series to study her bowel. The results showed that there was no evident problems, so they are re-starting her feeds as of yesterday. During the test, she did so well with a large amount of barium liquid that they've decided to give her a significantly higher amount of food this time. They are starting with 3 times the amount they started with last time. We've got our fingers crossed that she can take the more agressive feedings. The bottom line is that she's looking better the last few days. She's gained a little more weight and seems to be comfortable. Thanks for your prayers and support. We plan to update this site regularly so save it in your "favorite places" and come back often. Also, feel free to leave a message in Amanda's guest book on the main page. Kim and John |