The last day of 2007 is Ella’s fourth day of having elevated temperatures. We hope the New Year will break this cycle.

She spiked a fever last night of 38.5c (101.3F) so they’ve started her on a round of antibiotics just in case of infection, and some Tylenol to help make her more comfortable.

At this point, no one knows for sure what is causing Ella’s elevated temp. They checked for an ear infection, ruled out teething at this point, and all other test have come back negative at this time for a bacterial infection. They haven’t totally ruled out an infection from her central line, but so far nothing is showing up in her lab results (the blood cultures are due tomorrow).

The central line is an area of concern, because any foreign object that has an opening into the body has a high risk of infection. This line is used primarily for Ella’s diuretics which has been key for keeping her lungs functioning properly. This line has also been giving the nurses problems in the last few days because it hasn’t been flushing very well. We hope this line doesn’t close off because it will pose some real challenges in getting Ella the medications she needs. Hopefully it will stay usable until our girl no longer needs IV meds.

Back to her temperature though…

The only running thought is that Ella may have some kind of virus that her body is fighting off (goes along with the loose and discolored stools she’s been having the last 24 hours). All we can do is make her as comfortable as possible while her immune systems does its job.

Overall, her current situation is not as critical. It’s good to let Ella’s body fight off these kind of bugs because it will just make her stronger in the future. It’s just no fun seeing her uncomfortable. We’re so thankful that at this point it doesn’t seem to be affecting her respiratory system, which for her could be very detrimental.

We spent most of today with our girl, and discovered one thing for sure…none of her cuteness has been affected by all she’s been through. =)

Love to you and yours from all of us: Josh, Tina, and Ella Renae “the Bun” West.

Praising God for 2007 and looking forward to what He has in store for ’08!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!