Medi-port

Olivia ended up going down to the OR around 5:15 tonight and they brought her back up around 7:00. She handled it all beautifully. They did put her on the ventilator and she came off just fine. No complications whatsoever. They did anticipate having to put her back on high flow oxygen afterwards, but she proved them wrong on that one! She was right back down to her 2 liters off the wall by 8:00 this evening! I'm totally intrigued by her newest device. I need to do some research to make sure I understand it, but here's what I have learned so far:
The Medi-port (I don't even know if that's the proper term, but it works for now) is completely under her skin on her left upper torso area. When it's not being used, it won't even be visible. To access it, a person will just numb the area with numbing cream and then insert a needle and get all the labs they need! It will save lab technicians the awful job of trying to get a vein in that little girl. Anyway, right now, they have a needle in it and 2 or 3 lines for access. If all goes well tonight, they will probably remove the central line from her groin tomorrow. Since they have the new Medi-port, they can just use that for everything! Pretty cool, huh?
It's actually very common among St. Jude kids to have these Medi-ports, but since they are normally down in Intermediate Care, the PICU doesn't see them very often. I think it will be fun for everyone to experiment with. Speaking of St. Jude...my mom talked with the doctor from St. Jude over the weekend. He is soooooo pleased with her blood counts and feels like it would be a great idea to send her home and monitor her very, very closely (using the new Medi-port, of course!) If and when the need arises, we can proceed with chemo! I think this is great news. She seems to be having less and less transfusions and all of her numbers have been so good.
So, as for the next goal: Olivia has a swallow study scheduled for Wednesday at 1:30. This will tell if all the food is going where it's supposed to. Once she's eating all on her own, there's just not much else that will be keeping us there!!! Shhh....don't tell Olivia!