5/4/06- CT Scan- Scary Day

Cedie started out the day great. She was very happy and her CO2 was perfect. She weighed 6.95 kg (15.3 lbs). We expected the weightloss because she has been on diuretics all week in order to get all of the excessive fluids off of her lungs. She went down for her CT Scan around noon. They gave her some chlor. in order to keep her still for the scan. However, Cedie decided, instead of going to sleep like they planned, she was going to "blow kisses" and stick out her toungue at everyone! They said she was so silly!

Cedie had a bad reaction to the contrast die that the CT Scan technition inserted into her iv. Her arm started burning from the inside out. A few hours after the scan, her nurse found that her skin on that arm was peeling off and it was very red and swollen. Immediately after she saw this, she called the wound care nurse. The wound care nurse, the attending doctor, the pulmonologist, and the surgeons(they tend to all burn wounds) all came immediately. They put meds on her arm, elavated it (see pictures), and gave her some pain medication. She has to keep her arm in that "sling" for 24 hours. The nurses will keep putting meds and fresh dressings on it. They have to check her pulses every 30 minutes with a doppler in order to make sure the swelling is not cutting off circulation.

About 4 hours after all of this drama, Cedie was awake and feeling fine. She was bound and determined to get to that thumb! (her night nurse said she managed to get her thumb free twice!) After the intial shot of pain medication, she has not needed anything for the pain. Her arm looks like she had a sun burn. The surgeons say it is a partial 2nd degree burn and will have little to no scarring.