Stable-Mild Progress

We are still at U of M and the doctors are searching for answers as to why Mae is 'not thriving.' Yesterday, under sedation from anesthesia, she had a PICC line (PICC Line) inserted into her upper right arm to the major vessels near her heart. The procedure went well and they are administering TPN (Total Parental Nutrition) so that Mae will get the nutrition she needs to start to gain weight and develop. She has also been eating a special carbohydrate free formula to aid in her growth. The doctors, specialists, and nurses are all working together to try and figure out what might be wrong with Mae and her inability to properly digest food to get the nutrition she needs to grow. We meet daily with her 'team' and they are analyzing blood work, stool samples, and biopsies from her intestines/colon/stomach to try to find a solution.  They are leaning toward the answer being some type of congenital malabsorption issue. We have not been given a firm time frame for return home but are hopeful it will be within the next two weeks.

The hospital has fantastic family services for us, the boys were able to come and visit this past weekend and participated in 'medical play' where they got to choose a stuffed animal and give it the medical attention that Mae has (IV, PICC, heart monitors, ID bracelet, etc...) She has a private room where we are allowed to stay/sleep in a chair/on a couch. While we were both with her around the clock for the first five days or so, we are now taking turns back and forth staying days/nights with her, while trying to maintain some normalcy with the boys at home/sports/school/etc.