Panic Attacks

The only drawback to being awake is that Torrey is now suffering from panic attacks.
Last night, the line he has 'installed' in his body to administer his dialysis was leaking blood, which agitated him quite a bit. His respiratory rate was high again during the night.

Then, this afternoon, he was given a full-body white blood cell scan that apparently is very taxing for anyone who is claustrophobic, let alone someone that is on a breathing tube with a million different 'probes' in their body.

He had a severe panic attack during this procedure, which forced doctors to give him a sedative to calm him down so they could finish.
The sedative, in turn, caused his blood pressure to go way down. They were able to get it under control with medication, but the arterial line that is used to constantly monitor his blood pressure had been somehow broken, so they had to re-insert it...this took over an hour and involved yet another invasive procedure. This line is extremely important, though, because they need to be able to closely monitor his blood pressure at all times.

Luckily, the sedative helped keep him from feeling much of the procedure, but b/c he has had a few rough nights, they've had to give him sedatives for the past 3 days; this is not good b/c it stays in his body much longer than normal due to his liver problems.

I am hoping they can hold off on pain meds or sedatives for a few days as we risk him slipping into another coma. He was very sleepy this evening (and not as alert even during the day), that I worry we can have yet another set back.

Hopefully we will have the white blood cell scan results tomorrow so the doctors can better treat his infections. Apparently there are some bacterium in hospitals that can be very resistant to antibiotics, usually ones that breed in the various 'lines' they have to put in him to administer various treatments.

Am hoping to have a good 'game plan' update for you tomorrow, once the doctors have the information they need from the scan.

Lots of Love,
Monica