ABIGAIL NEWTON SMITH

Sunday, 18th November 2001 - Day 94

Welcome back again everybody, today has been very similar to yesterday except that I seem to have got back to my normal self again and was awake for most of the 2 times Mummy and Daddy came to see me. This was fun as I held their fingers and squeezed them as much as I could. I do like holding on to things as it makes me think about the feel and other stuff you get through my tiny little fingers. One of the nurses gives me all sorts of things to hold onto, even when there is no one around I can play and feel my tube and CPAP if it is on my nose. Normally I try and push the CPAP off which is always fun, as it makes the nurses pay attention more.

The doctors have given me more tests today and taken an X-Ray of my lungs. The X-Ray has shown that I have some increased levels of liquid on my lungs and that they have shut themselves down a little. This means that my weeing juice (diuretics) will be increased to remove the water better and also that I will have to remain on my CPAP for a bit longer until I ma bigger and can open up my lungs properly myself. The doctor told Mummy and Daddy that I would need to be reduced off CPAP slowly this time and may need a top up for quite sometime, even if only for a short period. It also appears that my red blood cells are a little low and they have decided to top me up a bit with some more as this should also help my breathing a bit. When they came to give me my blood I decided that I did not want it and pulled my canular out of my right arm, much to the distress of the nurse and doctor. This meant that I had to be pricked again, which I hated and screamed about but they still carried on. Eventually they got it in and I have been given 34ml of packed red blood cells. I have around 170ml in my body now so that seems quite and bit to Daddy and I, as it is equivalent to around 68ml of normal blood in terms of the red bits in it. The results of the cultures they took yesterday are not yet available so we will have to wait and see if there is anything else wrong with me.

So it looks like I have gone back to where I was this time last week, just cycling on and off my CPAP unit. Poor me, I have had a step forward and then 2 backwards, but I promise you and Mummy and Daddy that I will get there eventually. I am afraid that we will have to be a little more patient and it looks like I will be spending my 100th day here in intensive care. Please come back tomorrow or another day for another fun packed instalment......

Last Updated : 19/11/01.