Morning update

We didn't get much sleep last night, but Steve got through the night pretty well.

After we arrived in the room, there were many admission details to cover. I spoke with Dr. M on the phone about using Heparin. She agrees that the first priority is to preserve Steve's respiratory and pulmonary function, and the only way to do that is to prevent future clots and work on dissolving this one. That must be done with a blood thinner.

The Heparin drip started sometime after midnight. A lab tech was here at 6:30 a.m. to draw blood from his left hand. The sample will be used to test his clotting levels. If they are abnormal, they will adjust the Heparin levels and draw blood more often.

(Blood draws are usually from his PICC line, the semi-permanent line in his arm. But Heparin is going in through the PICC, so the clotting sample must be drawn from a different area. Steve's veins are horribly thin and usually difficult to access. Today's tech got a good stick on the first try. One of many prayers is that the sticks continue to be easy and pain free.)

Steve struggled with coughing off and on throughout the night. He's had two breathing treatments since we arrived.

We should start seeing doctors in a couple of hours.