The saga continues...

But first, a cute picture of our girl in the hospital...

As if a kidney infection for an 11 month old isn't bad enough....we now have to deal with a clot in the artery of her arm. Turns out, the IV (short for Intra Venous - note the "venous" for vein part) was actually in an artery since Monday. She "tolerated" her treatments on Monday and Tuesday well but yesterday during her outpatient infusion screamed the entire time. I noticed during the infusion that her arm was purplish and looked odd but the nurse said it was probably because the tape (holding the splint to her arm) was tight. I should also mention that she doesn't just scream to scream while at the doctors...After the infusion while trying to flush the "vein" they noted her arm turning white around the needle...hmmm...not a good sign. They were conversing in Dutch and I only was catching glimpses of it. Finally, I asked "will you take it out?" A simple question, but apparently they need the doctors approval. Ten minutes later...Hannah screaming the whole time...The doctor looked at it and said they should take it out...she can get a new one put in tomorrow.

We get home, Hannah naps, some friends come over, and we notice she has no function of her right hand. It was cold to the touch, discolored, and she couldn't move her fingers (although it didn't really stop her from doing anything). I called the hospital and they told me to run warm water over it to increase circulation. She seemed to get a slight grip back after that and a little exercise of her fingers to pump the blood. This morning, again no grip. When we got to the clinic for her new IV, we asked about her arm. She needed another doctor to look at it. Six doctors and an ultrasound later, I am told it the needle was in an artery and there now seems to be a clot. The ultrasound showed no blood flow going to her hand, but clinically they could tell she was improving and the blood was getting there, just not terribly fast. Because her arteries are so small and she is improving, they won't do exploratory surgery but rather just wait and see. She goes back in a few weeks time for another ultrasound (requested by the pediatrician) and then again in 3 months (requested by the pediatric surgeon).

In the meantime, she had her second to last infusion of anitbiotic today and a nuclear scan to see the infection in her kidneys. We find out the results of her scan tomorrow from her nephrologist. "Auntie" Meghan was with us today to help out and was amazed at how many doctors/nurses knew Hannah and came up to her as we were standing in the hall. She's a popular girl and now has a small army on her side.

Although it all sounds terrible and painful, she is actually doing remarkably well (considering) and still has tons of smiles (which is why I think all of the nurses like her).