Oh man! Sit. This is a long one!

Well, what was suppose to be a short visit to clinic turned into an admit into Children's Hospital Boston. That's right. We are stuck up here in Boston. Not that this is a bad thing because if you gotta be stuck in a hospital, this is the place to be.

Still.

We got here Wednesday and Wed. night Chase was acting kinda funny, like he was sick. So at midnight we walk our little boy over to the ER at Children's. Sure enough, 100.2 temp. So after some Motrin, blood cultures, and a dose of antibiotics, they sent us back to our hotel.

Thursday we went to clinic. It was really a great clinic visit, too. But because of the infection (that's what the temp. was telling us at least) we couldn't really enjoy it. They told us that Chase would be taken off EVERYTHING for three nights a week. THREE WHOLE NIGHTS!!!!!!!!! You can imagine the plans that were going through my head.

Friday morning, 1:45 am. The ER calls, the blood cultures came back positive and we have to come back in immediately. Line infection. Seriously?!?!?!?!?

So we go, tons of docs and nurses come in and ask us all the same questions. At 5:00am they admit us into a hospital room.

So here we are a week later.

Why so long??

This is the good part............

It turns out Chase had enterococcus, a type of bacterial infection, and a yeast infection. Result? The central line (permanent IV) had to come out. So Sunday evening about 11:30 pm he goes down to the OR to get his line out.

Why is this the good part you ask????

Because, after speaking with Dr. Puder, we might be able to leave the line out!

Let me repeat.....

LEAVE THE LINE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What does this mean????

It means: no more line infections, no more TPN, no more Omegaven (white gold us SBS moms like to call it.) Chase would be free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No more hook-ups to his IV at night. No more tube hanging out from under his right arm. One less hole in his beautiful body, AND


BATHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the line stays out, we can give Chase a real bath. And we can let him go swimming with his brother in the kiddie pool, and we can squirt him with a waterhose, and we can take him to the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO EXCITING!!!

We're not out of the water just yet. Chase has to prove that he can maintain and gain weight without the help of TPN and Omegaven and his electrolytes have to stay stable. So far, he is doing GREAT!!! We had a bout of "the squirts" which did cause him to lose some weight. But this morning, the squirts were gone, and his weight went up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The answer: Prayer.

And we are asking for as much prayer as possible right now!!! This is a GINORMOUS step for Chase, and short-gut in general. We really want this for him. This is just one step closer to a normal (oops, sorry Brogans, typical) life for Chase.....and what more could parents ask for.

It's going to be another two weeks before we are done running antibiotics to get rid of the infections which means two more weeks up here. But if the end result is no line, we'll take it. But it also means that much more time away from my Colton. The little ray of sunshine that always brightens the worst of days. I'm not asking for prayer for strength or comfort, just peace while being away from my other son. It's TORTURE.

So get ready for some celebrating, because.............

WE'RE COMING HOME WITHOUT A LINE, THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO, CHASE, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME." Phillipians 4:13