Broviac, a strange birthday present

So ... today is Manny's 3rd birthday.  We celebrated on Sunday though.   But instead of doing the normal things on a birthday, he decided the hospital would be more fun. 

Let me backtrack.  Remember how his broviac had an "abrasion" on it?  They didn't want to repair it until they had to since it is sooo close to his skin.  Well, up through last week, we were just really careful with it and there were no problems.  Last Wednesday the dressing change was done.  By Monday it was seeping (slow leak).  I contacted our IV team and they felt it was "time".  I was to call today and schedule an appointment for later in the week to get it done. 

BUT ... instead, he had different plans.  The dressing was changed yesterday and the line was not used until 8:30pm.  By morning, his dressing was completely wet.  That's not a good sign.  So we went into high gear to get him in today. 

Many phone calls later, we were on our way to the hospital and were admitted into a regular room.  The IV team assessed him and felt they would try to do the repair.  Standard protocol is that they need about 1 1/2 inches or more to do the repair and his is closer to 1 inch.  So it was going to be a tight repair. 

Surgery was standing by just in case if it didn't work. 

How do they repair it?  They do a hemostat (clamp) below the cut to stop the blood from coming back out the line.  Then they cut the line.  YES, completely CUT THE LINE.  I think I let out an audible sigh (even though I knew this was coming), it's still a bit freaky. 

Then they put on a whole entire new line to connect to the part coming out of the skin.  And they basically super glue the two sides together.  Wait about 4 hours and voila!  It's all done.  Repairs can last months (or not).

But bottom line is ... it WORKED~!!  They got it.  It was tight but they did it.  And we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

So after 4 hours, we can go HOME!  Seriously!!  Isn't that nuts?  We will be here for less than 7 hours (shorter than an ER visit).  Very thankful that it worked and for the VIP treatment.

And while we were in the treatment room doing the procedure, they put up a Happy 3rd Birthday Manny Sign and gave him presents! 

So now we're just sitting here waiting for the glue to dry.  Another 3 hours or so. 

In the next few days, I'm hoping to finish posting about Denver and add the blog about the birthday party for Jacob, Zoe and Manny.  I'm very far behind but felt you would all appreciate the update about this hospitalization.