It took three tries to get Trey accessed on Monday, the first time using his new VAD. The first time, Trey’s nurse, the head of the Medical Day Unit where Trey gets his weekly infusions, could not flush any saline or draw any blood. It seemed stuck. So she took the needle out. The second time, there was a strange tinge of blood that came out when she accessed him, but she could not draw any more blood and when she pushed the saline in, his whole chest started to swell. That was a bit scary, and then when she pulled the needle out, the saline dripped out of the hole (the saline was being pushed into the tissue surrounding his VAD). At this point, Trey’s nurse called the head of the IV team at the hospital and asked her to come up and try accessing Trey’s VAD. To give her the best chance at getting Trey’s VAD to work, the IV nurse used a 1 inch, 18 gauge needle, which is significantly bigger than his usual 3/4 inch, 22 gauge needle. By this time, we’d been at the hospital for quite a while and I was really worried we were headed for another surgery, so when it worked on try number three, and the IV nurse was able to get blood return and flush saline, we were all ready for a party!!
Almost all of our local family and a few hospital staff and friends came to the MDU this past Monday, February 2, to celebrate two years of Trey being on ERT. Grandma Gayle brought balloons, Terra from the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation brought capes for the boys and a toy kitten for Sadie, Omi made a cake, Trey and Avery made cupcakes, and Sue brought a gift for the boys and a donation for the MPS II Fund! It was lots of fun and a great way to spend the day at the hospital!!
