This surgery is monumental for Watts and is being done in hopes that all transfusions and treatment is behind him for good. At least that is how Michael and I are viewing it! His surgeon said something to the effect that Watts isn't using his port enough to warrant the risk that having it in brings to his little body (bacteria being introduced each time it is accessed, blood stream infections, etc.). So there's that side of it too.
After the surgery, a few things will change in Watts' post-treatment care. Watts will have his finger pricked at Brenner for his labs instead of accessing his port each time. His surgery will also change how we will respond to fevers at home. In the past, whenever Watts had a fever of 100.5 F or higher, we had to take him to Brenner to start antibiotics and have his labs checked and blood cultures drawn. These ER trips would typically turn into long stays because his counts were so diminished (and his team would want to keep him until his counts started to recover) or because a few times he had growth in his lab cultures that meant there was some sort of blood stream infection going on. Now that Watts will be without a Hickman line or a port, his risk of these infections drops dramatically, and we can start monitoring fevers at home.
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Overall, we are thankful to be at this point and plan to celebrate this milestone once Watts feels up for it after his surgery! Please do still keep us in your prayers tomorrow. For Watts and his little heart to not be frightened as he heads into surgery, for Dr Pranikoff's hands to be steady and for there to be no complications whatsoever, and for Michael and I to rest our nervous, weary souls in Him. He is faithful and He is good.
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