More Waiting
After careful consideration Nathan’s care team determined that before they could begin the TPA (clot busting drug) they needed to give him a central line. Nathan will need so much support in the form of blood products, antibiotics and other fluids while on TPA that he would need 6+ IVs to get everything into his body. There is no way his veins could support that many IVs, so counter to all medical practice, they put a direct line into an infected body. This line is sure to become infected itself, but it will get us through the TPA treatment.
When we learned about the line we understood, but were devastated. It’s another delay in starting treatment for the clot and it was another very risky procedure. They called on Interventional Radiology to put in the line since the procedure would be a little less risky than surgery. Being so young and so sick the anesthesia was particularly dangerous for Nathan and there was always the chance that they wouldn’t be able to get the line in. We sat with our parents and clergy friends from Trinity while the line was put in. By God’s grace Nathan came through with flying colors.
Now we have to wait until tomorrow morning for the TPA treatment to begin. The risk of the new line bleeding out is too high in the first 12 hours that Nathan has it and no one wants to start such a risky medication in the middle of the night. So we’ll stay at the hospital tonight and be with Nathan in the morning when he begins TPA treatment. Being with him as the drug enters his body won’t do anything medically, but it will make us feel better.