So sorry to have left everyone hanging after last night’s events, and the update following that post. It’s been a very intense morning — good and bad. Here you go:

Kathryn’s fever came down enough last night that she was exhibiting a much more natural restfulness. (YAY!) They let her start back on her Melatonin last night, and I think it’s very possible that she would’ve slept through the night if we hadn’t had issues with her PICC line again. (Can I say out really loud just how much I now hate the sound of that alarm?!)

As long as I sat beside her bed, hunched over her with my hand over ear to block out the PICC alarm, and a pillow over her head to block out the nurses’ flashlights, she was able to stay mostly asleep for the night. But it was a very long night. I was able to sleep deeply in the parent “bed” from 2am until 4:40am while her PICC line decided to take a break. But then, things were off and going again until morning .

This is what Kathryn and I looked like for most of the night (minus the pillow over her head).

It seems that she managed to, somehow, get a decent amount of sleep last night, and that her fever was down enough that she was more like herself because very early this morning, she even tried to give me a smile.

A little later in the morning, a PICC team came in and tried changing the dressing over her PICC line to see if that would help. (It didn’t. In fact, they have now tried TWO dressing changes with no improvement.) Because this is a sterile procedure, everyone in the room has to wear a mask. They don’t usually make the patient wear one, but for some reason, they did today. Just a few hours ago, Kathryn was so “not herself” that no one could get anything near her face without her becoming hysterical. Not sure why, but it would cause intense fear and panic for her. But this morning, she accepted the mask very peacefully. Another happy milestone.

Pain control is incredible! I mean, pain is almost nonexistent! This is huge, and we are so thankful for that. And her body is clearly responding to the Cipro, because she is feeling so much better and her fever is continuing to creep down.

But . . . a new challenge developed this morning. Horrible diarrhea, resulting from the Cipro. She’s been asking to get out of bed and play in her wheelchair and to eat and drink, but two full bed changes and three baths have really held us back. (By the way, the fact that she started talking again has also been a huge step forward.) The urology team is consulting with Infectious Disease (ID) about any other options out there, and everyone has finally agreed to let us start Kathryn’s probiotics back up again. We are super pro probiotics at our house. We are hoping this will help some while we wait to hear back from ID.

Her personality is still coming back little by little, in spite of the diarrhea, and it’s so great to see her dimple peeking out at us a bit.

Kathryn and her new puppy (still discussing names)

Later in the morning, we were finally able to get her in her wheelchair so she could play with Bella for awhile. She was content, we were able to coax a couple more smiles out of her over the next half-hour or so. Here is one of them.

A few minutes after this sweet smile, though, she dissolved into tears again. We think she is just tired, so she is settled back into bed, and we’re hoping she will be better again after a short rest.

Thanks so much for the continued prayers.