Well, it’s not quiet the worst case scenario.
The TEE today showed suspected endocarditis on Brent’s artificial heart valve. Definitely not what we were hoping for. Staph epi loves foreign objects. It is a bacteria commonly found on your skin. Even as careful as Brent is with his central line, it finds a way to wreak havoc. His line was removed today.
The tender mercy of the day was that his cardiologist was the one doing the procedures today in heart and lung. We love him. He didn’t want to break the bad news.
He had already consulted with Dr Caine, Brent’s cardio thoracic surgeon and they are recommending at this time to hit it with mega antibiotics in the hopes of avoiding another replacement. The success and efficacy of replacement lessons each time the valve is replaced. The last time he was sent home on antibiotics to hopefully nix the staph epi on his first artificial heart valve he ended up having a heart attack due to a piece of the infection breaking off. That resulted in his second valve replacement. Needless to say, our anxiety levels are/will be high.
Aside from the normal frustrations that go along with any hospital stay is the fact that we know the continued line infections could be avoided or at least reduced. There is a drug that he used for several years in his line that prevents biofilm from forming on the inside of his line. We knew it was off-label and not approved in the US for this purpose. It is approved in the US for many other uses, like in Soda, food, and other stupid things, but not approved to potentially save a life. Go figure. Since he was forced to discontinue the use of it he has had at least three line infections. It literally makes no sense whatsoever. ‘Merica!
So, Brent will remain in the hospital on IV antibiotics and we anticipate a new line perhaps on Sunday. He has to wait 48 hours from line extraction. No line means no TPN. That is his 11 hour infusion for all of his nutritional needs that is infused into his blood stream. He has already missed two nights.
If you’re the praying type, something to pray for would be that the antibiotics do their job and do it well, avoiding another open heart surgery.
As always, we are mindful of our support team, you.
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