Tenkoff, central line removed; PICC line added

Early this morning we cut Riley off from all food and drink in preparation for his sedation associated with removing his Tenkoff drain and central femoral (groin) line. Hard to believe that Tenkoff was removed, considering it drained nearly two liters in a single day just a week or so ago. It was also considered a factor that his Fontan operation wasn't working. But drainage tapered off and doctors felt it was okay to remove. Riley still has three other drains--two bulb drains and one pigtail. They wanted to close up the femoral line because it has a high infection rate, considering it's located inside his diaper.

Since access is still needed to administer meds and to draw blood, a PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line was added. PICC lines can be in place for several weeks and have a low infection rate. The long plastic tube is deep inside Riley's body, which should make giving meds less painful. We believe he's been avoiding telling us that he hurts because administerings meds though the IV in his wrist stings. While he still won't like getting meds (negative association of nurses in general), he shouldn't have any physical discomfort while IV meds are going in. The plan was to place the line in an arm or leg, but because his veins are so tiny, they could not get it to work. As a result the line ended up sewn into his neck. So he'll have a scar on the other side of his neck to rival the one from ECMO.