A Long Week

So, for those of you that don't know, Elise was admitted to the hospital this past Monday with Pneumonia, secondary to the Flu and Adenovirus. She was immediately started on IV antibiotics Vancomycin and Zosyn, and was put on Oxygen for a couple of days, along with breathing treatments. She is now doing much better and was actually discharged today.

Elise came home tonight with a new accessory though-  the NG feeding tube. Although it's not what I wanted for her, I have to admit that it's the best thing for her right now.  She is almost 6 months old and is the weight of a 3-month old. Also, the doctor said that her weight-to-height ratio is not even on the growth charts, which puts her heart at risk. I mean, who can argue with that? SO, they placed her feeding tube prior to discharge today. She will eat by mouth normally throughout the day, but at night, we will use the NG tube for overnight feeds-- 1 oz per hour x 12 hours each night.

My mom and dad are here with with us now.  It is such a blessing to have their help with Ethan and Elise right now.

Anyway, here are some pics from the past week...

Little Elise was just about coughing up her lungs in the emergency room.

Finally getting a little rest...

Starting to perk up...playing with a new toy!

My sweet angel...Mommy loves you SO much!!! :-)

Well Hello Miss Elise....always smiling, no matter what!

Elise's newest accessory...the NG tube.  

On another note...I met the liver doctor of my dreams while Elise was in the hospital!  Relatively speaking of course, as I have never actually dreamed of meeting a wonderful liver doctor, or even needing one for that matter.  Her name is Dr. Abrams, and she is one of Elise's doctor's partners....so really she is already part of her "liver team," but this is the first time I've gotten to meet with her.  Anyway, she's awesome!  She  talked to David and me for over an hour and answered so many questions that I've had lingering on my mind. She was very straight-forward but still maintained a sense of humor, and she had the most positive attitude I could imagine.  

So the best news I have to report, aside from her being safe and sound at home with us now, is that Elise's liver enzymes have actually continued going down...never even spiked as the doctors predicted...even in the face of the Flu, Adenovirus, and Pneumonia.  I call it a Miracle.   

Elise had liver panels drawn daily in the hospital, and here are the results:

                                         4/9/12                       4/10/12                        4/11/12

AST                                     94                                72                                66    

ALT                                     95                                84                                67

Alk Phos                            459                              364                              317

GGT                                  2347                            1775                            1602

Albumin                              4.3                               3.8                               3.4

Conjugated Bili                  0.0                               0.0                               0.0