Update 4/3/13

Poor Carter.  That is where I have to begin. Our hearts hurt for all that he has had to go through today.  This morning Carter woke up at 2:45 screaming. He has never screamed and cried like that before.  I hit  the button on his PCA pump for it to give him an extra dose or Morphine.  Nothing... It did not help at all.  I checked his temperature and it was 104.9.  I called the nurse and she promptly went into action. We started IV Tylenol immediately and put ice packs under Carter.  It took a few hours, but his fever did go down to 99. He continually dropped his oxygen saturation requiring him to receive more oxygen.  I could tell he was going down and going down fast.

Carter's Orthopedic Doctor came by a short while later to check on him, and I voiced my concerns.  He agreed will all of them, but being an orthopedic Doctor he does not do much medical management. He told me he would talk to the hospitalist and we would get all of it figured out.  Carter was prepared to go to surgery at 11 am to have a GJ tube placed, so the hospitalist wanted to see him before going to the operating room.  She came in and continually stated she thought Carter had a viral bug and he would just need to wait it out.  I expressed my concerns that I was positive this is more than a virus with her several times before requesting another Doctor come look at Carter.  Before the other Doctor arrived, the Anesthesiologist, who was going to sedate Carter for his GJ tube placement, called with concerns about Carter's labs (results from blood work).  He was certain, like Brandon and I, that Carter was in septic shock and there was no way he would sedate him for surgery.  He said Carter was too unstable. The new Doctor that came in to see Carter also agreed.  They did a chest x-ray, new labs, ultrasound, catheterized Carter's kidneys and performed a ton of other test.  The Chest X-ray showed that Carter's pneumonia had worsened, which is the reason for more oxygen.  His labs showed that his White Blood Cells had dropped tremendously. They dropped so low that Carter had to be placed on Neutropenic Precautions which means everyone has to wash up and wear a mask when coming into Carter's room. His immune system is too weak to fight off anything.  Carter's blood levels had also dropped.  I knew the results before they even came back.  Every time Carter becomes septic all of these signs rear their ugly heads.  I voiced this concern to the new Doctor and she agreed.  They started Carter on new antibiotics and we are waiting to see if they will do the trick.  We are still waiting for the results from the urine collected by catheterizing Carter's kidneys and the ultrasound that will determine if Carter has any blood clots.  He is still on a lot of oxygen and fighting a fever.  Since starting the antibiotic his blood pressure and heart rate have lowered.  We are praying this is a sign that we have started the right antibiotic and it is fighting the infection causing these symptoms.

Carter is extremely sick right now.  The few times that he has been awake, he has coughed constantly and is unable to maintain his oxygen saturation.  They then have to give him more sedatives and he about stops breathing from being so sedated.  It is an awful cycle that we are ready to have stopped.  Please continue to pray for Carter.  We know he has pneumonia that has worsened and he is in septic shock, but we just can not find the source of infection.  Pray for his weak body to fight off this infection so he can start the healing process.  Pray for wisdom and guidance for the Doctor's and peace for Brandon and I.  We never imagined Carter would have these type of complications.  We know God has big plans for Carter and is in complete control.  As always...To Him be the Glory!!!

I know it may be hard for some to understand, but we miss our little boy so much.  We are ready to have him back!  Our arms feel so empty and we cannot wait until we can hold him again. All we can do is pray he is feeling no pain and is happy playing with angels in his dreams right now.