A Second Opinion

On Wednesday Ivy had to go back to the ICU. Her defibrillator is apparently overly sensitive, causing it to activate unnecessarily. She was transfered to a top-notch ICU where they can run some tests and find out exactly what's going on. Ivy is safe. Her heart is fine, the cardiologist sees no abnormalities and the device itself is sound. It's just reading too much information, which causes it to interpret Ivy's heart beat as a faster rate than it actually is. It's stressful, but we've been assured that all that's required is a minor adjustment to the device.
Though it's not exactly good news that she's back in the ICU, it has resulted in much better care. To be completely honest "Totally Kids" has been a struggle. It's the kind of place where the parents really have to keep on top of the staff in order to get things taken care of. Don't get me wrong, some of the nurses there are amazing. We had a couple that went out of their way to look after Ivy. But that was more a testament to the individuals themselves than any sort of organizational standard set from the top, down. It was up to us, the family, to convince the doctors and charge nurse to look into the defibrillator. They told us (without an evaluation from a neurologist) that Ivy's jolting was neurological. If Elle and Frank hadn't insisted they rule out the defibrillator as a cause of the jolts, we would have never discovered the problem.
The staff at the ICU have taken more time to observe Ivy, and physical therapy has been more willing to push her, yielding tremendous results! (More on this later) They feel she is on the cusp of qualifying for an acute care facility. They're working hard to ensure she doesn't have to return to "Totally Kids" or any other sub-acute facility. She's now seen a neurologist and a cardiologist for the first time since she left French. At this point, her ICU transfer seems to be more of a lateral step, than a step backward.