Mia is stable in the PICU....

Hi Everybody,

After 11 days of trying to get her co2 under control, they finally said enough is enough... this morning, after a scheduled breathing treatment, Mia's co2 reached an all-time high of 99. I had only been with her maybe 5 minutes before they said they were going to call Dr. Silva to see what he wanted them to do. When I first got there, the charge nurse basically warned me that things weren't going the greatest this morning, so I kinda knew what I was walking into when I went to her room.

Dr. Silva didn't want to wait any longer, so they called 911 and within about 6 minutes, we heard the sirens and they were in her room in no time! Being that they called 911, the fire department showed up as well. There was quite the crew in her bedroom!! The fire dept. was cleared to leave, but they still hung around until Mia was in the ambulance. Jay, our fabulous RT, bagged Mia the whole trip over (only 5 minutes) to the ER. In other words, she wasn't on the vent - he was giving her manual breaths with the "bag".

While in the ER, Dr. Silva met up with us, Jay and Dr. Smyklo who is also taking care of her here at Good Sam. They decided they wanted to order chest xrays, lots of blood work, and a CT scan of Mia's brain. They were going to do a central IV in Mia's leg, but they're not going to do that. They're doing a PICC Line instead. The PICC line is a super tiny catheter that goes a vein in the arm and they guide it along until it's near the heart. It's definitely much more intense than an IV, so pray it goes well!!

The one HUGE blessing is that the rules here at the PICU are so much lighter than at CRC!! So, my dear Uncle Eli from Maryland who arrived to San Jose this morning was actually able to meet Mia!! We had planned that he'd see Mia through the window at CRC, but meeting her face to face was so much better! Renee, my sister, also was able to see her again. =) She hadn't seen her this close since September and she was so happy! She couldn't believe how big she's gotten... and how big her teeth are! hehe =) Renee says this is the best Christmas gift ever! =)

Robert arrived here safely. Thankfully school was going to be over at the end of the week anyway, so he doesn't need to go back for about 3 weeks. He might have to go back for a morning a week or so. =)

We did get a sweet surprise - two of my very favorite nurses from CRC came to see how Mia was doing. I love Amy and Leslie - even if they don't have Mia as a patient, they always keep an eye on her - they always baby her! Mia has stolen so many hearts. =)

I have internet access here in the PICU, so I'll be able to post blogs regularly. I'll be able to - we'll see if I actually get it done as often as I'd like. =)

Keep praying!

Rachael