Echo and follow up with Dr. Tarnoff

Riley had an echocardiogram and an appointment with his cardiologist Dr. Tarnoff this morning. The technician performing the echo couldn’t see the Glenn repair (which isn’t unusual), but said that the TAPVR (total anomalous pulmonary vascular return) repair looked great. We didn’t give Riley any food or water this morning before the appointment so that he’d be more interested in drinking his non-fat milk than squirming during the exam.

Riley’s oxygen saturation levels continue to be in the high 70s, topping out at 77 percent today. Riley managed to gain a bit of weight since his last visit, which means his low-fat diet isn’t preventing him from growing. He weighed in at a hefty 24 pounds.

Dr. Tarnoff was very pleased with Riley’s appearance and overall recovery. We have continued to hear and feel gurgling in Riley’s lungs since he left the hospital, but after a quick exam, Tarnoff says his lungs are clear and that the sounds are upper respiratory, probably still residual effects from his time on the ventilator. He also said that the echo showed that he no longer has elevated levels of fluid around his heart.

Riley continues to be on a low-fat diet (just another 2 ½ weeks), and he will have another follow-up with Tarnoff in about five weeks. That will be enough time for Riley to be back on a regular diet for two weeks. At that time, he will have a chest x-ray that will give a good picture of his lungs and the area under the lung where fluid was collecting as a result of the torn lymph node. If there are any lingering problems of the torn node, they will show up in the x-ray.

Travel for the Galante-Norton family is still on hold until at least after the next appointment at the end of July. In addition, Riley will still need to have oxygen during air travel. We had expected him to be able to travel without it after this recent surgery, but Tarnoff said that it’s a necessary precaution until his oxygen levels are in the 90s. He should hit those levels after the Fontan operation, which is expected during the next one to three years.


Enjoying the SF Giants last Friday!