Day 158

We are back in the hospital. I brought him in on Monday because his temperature started getting a little higher and his heart still seemed to be working really hard even though he got blood on Friday. The doctor also wanted to watch his electrolytes as he stopped his tpn and started on feeds. The transition off of tpn has gone smoothly so far. He tolerated feeds for 15 hours yesterday and he actually ate some dinner. This morning he requested milk and water and had several bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I asked them to hold the feed to give him a chance to eat more, and they said that was fine. Now onto the bad news. Monday night he had a chest X-ray to check for pneumonia. Thankfully his lungs looked fine, but his heart appeared enlarged compared to past X-rays. So yesterday he had an echocardiogram to investigate further and it turns out he has fluid built up around his heart which is making it have to pump harder. The inflammation doesn't appear to be blood pressure or virus related. He has a repeat echo today to see if it is worsening. We are hoping and praying that it will clear up on its own. Also, his blood cells continue to self destruct. As he comes off tacro this week, we hope that issue will resolve.