Awake and talking

Riley's breathing tube was removed late last night, around 11pm. His voice was a bit hoarse, his first words expressing a most basic need: "I want to watch TV. Bob the Builder." Mom and Dad took brief turns sleeping on a lumpy cot in a conference room turned dormitory. He's very sweet and agreeable despite the circumstances. He told Dad he had an "ouchy" at one point (the catheter was pulling - mega-ouchy), and he's asked for juice and water, of which he's only been able to have small drops. In 15 minutes he'll start having larger swallows. They think he might be slightly dehydrated so they've upped the IV fluids.

As predicted, the night was stable but busy. His femoral arterial "cut-in" line has been very bloody since the surgery, so they're keeping it clean and covered. At one point they were concerned about his lowered BP but sitting him up straight seemed to do the trick. Temps are still normal, we're very thankful about that [Ed: after Riley's Glenn procedure in 2004, his fever reached a dangerous high of 104-degrees.]

Oh, and since some of you have asked - Riley received one unit of whole donor blood during surgery and some donated blood parts as well (plasma, platelets). This is less than he needed in 2004 (he took 3 units). With bigger kids they don't usually need a unit to prime the heart bypass machine. Thanks to the generosity of friends, Riley needed fewer units than we had donated which means we'll be helping the Bay Area's blood shortage by contributing those other units to patients who need them.