Riley is in the cath lab

Riley is now in the cath lab. Dr. Tarnoff, his cardiologist, is there and will assist in the procedure. They're expecting it to last from 2 to 3 hours. We have a pager and they'll give us an update about 90 minutes in. As planned, they'll be coiling off any secondary blood vessels that have formed since the Glenn. They'll need to go in his leg and his neck (as a result of his Glenn-modified anatomy).

Riley did great and was very brave taking all of the medicine. He received a ton of Benadryl to relax him, and then Versed to relax him even more. We were excited that Clark, the super nurse from 2004, was there to take Riley upstairs and get him settled. We went into the lab with Riley (and his two Matchbox cars). He was starting to get sleepy as they turned on Nemo on the overhead TV. When we left, he was just about ready to doze off.

So we have a few hours to keep ourselves busy. I'm going to give blood for Riley's surgery next week. They'll need four units ready for transfusion and due to the blood shortage, they encourage family members to bank blood. It also helps me feel useful, and it's a bit more calming to realize that it's your own blood in that bag leading into your son's body. We also need to figure out parking. In 2003 and 2004, we were lucky that off-street parking, while sparse, was all day. Now it's two-hour residential. We get a discount on the garage, but it's still $15 per day which adds up when you're here for weeks at a time.

We'll keep you all updated.