Will's Rough Week

It is time for Will to catch a break.  The poor boy keeps having trouble with various things.  His latest problems are his eyes and the PICC line.  Will and Erin are given eye exams every other week.  For the past exams, their eyes have been premature.  On Tuesday, Will's eye exam shows that he has Stage 3 Retinopathy of Prematurity. Wikipedia defines ROP as:

"Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), previously known as retrolental fibroplasia (RLF), is an eye disease that affects prematurely born babies. It is thought to be caused by disorganized growth of retinal blood vessels which may result in scarring and retinal detachment. ROP can be mild and may resolve spontaneously, but may lead to blindness in serious cases. As such, all preterm babies are at risk for ROP, and very low birth weight is an additional risk factor. Both oxygen toxicity and relative hypoxia can contribute to the development of ROP."

To read more, here is a link to follow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinopathy_of_prematurity

Erin has Stage 1/2. We aren't as worried about her eyes as we are Will's eyes.  They will both have weekly eye exams to monitor the ROP.  There is a chance that Will's Stage 3 could reverse or not progress any further.  We pray that one or both of those things happen. We also pray that Erin's Stage 1/2 doesn't go any further.  We will keep you updated on what happens with their eye exams.

Will's second issue (in addition to all of the other things that I listed in a previous blog) is that the PICC line in his arm went bad on Friday. The PICC line is how he receives his nutrition (TPN and Lipids) and any medication.
Here is a link in case you wanted to learn more about PICC lines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripherally_inserted_central_catheter
 He had his PICC line since he was 9 days old.  The nurses were surprised that it had lasted this long.  From Friday through Sunday night, the nurse practitioners tried four or five different places on his body to start another PICC line.  They tried two places on his head which required Will to have patches of hair shaved off.  I've cried a lot this weekend because of this (the PICC line and the shaved head).  No mother (or father) should have to see their tiny baby with patches of hair missing.  Trying to think positively, Will does have a mohawk which seems to be the in style.  ;-)  Last night, the nurse practitioner tried for two hours to start a new PICC line with no success.  I could see the pain and sadness in her eyes when she told me that she couldn't get it to go.  I know that she and our nurse Renee worked as hard as they could.  Will's veins are under developed and weak because of all the pokes he has had in his short life and because of his extreme prematurity.  On Tuesday, the doctors will put in a Broviac catheter. Here is a link that explains more:
http://surgery.med.umich.edu/pediatric/clinical/patient_content/a-m/broviac_placement.shtml  We are glad that Will won't have to have any more pokes with his blood draws or blood transfusions.  His poor body is covered in pokes. It just breaks my  heart. 

Will's surgery went great! Our prayers were answered.  He hasn't had any complications from the surgery and is recovering well.  I am not posting any pictures of him right now because he isn't looking his best.  He is extremely puffy as he tries to get rid of the extra fluids from surgery.  His diapers are nice and wet, which is a wonderful thing.  Today's nurse reported a few 'tuts' from Will, which means that things must be connected.  :-)