The congestion in Riley's chest returned this afternoon after two clear days. The pigtail drain in his left chest continues to put off fluid, but it's trending downward. The doctors ordered a chest x-ray to get to the source of the congestion. It turns out the pigtail drain has slipped out and is no longer functioning properly. They've decided to just pull it out in about an hour, after Riley is sedated. Tomorrow morning they'll do another chest x-ray and if there is more fluid building up, they'll need to consider putting a new drain in. Hopefully that won't be needed but we won't know until tomorrow. This might turn out to be a nice way to force the final step in the going home process if we're lucky.
Dad had night duty last night and Riley desatted twice into the high seventies. The lowest oxygen saturation I saw was 77%. Riley also had the sweaty head again and his pillow was drenched. The morphine withdrawal explanation doesn't seem to carry a lot of weight with most of the medical professionals. They want to keep watching him when he sweats like that. He has not shown any other indication that the sweating is heart-related - all of his other vitals look fine. It's possible that Riley's body is using his sweat glands to release fluids in response to the lasix. The desaturation wasn't fully explained. It never lasted for more than a few minutes and his sats would be back up into the low 90s.
Finally, we noticed a rash on Riley's belly this evening after the chest x-ray. The resident says it is possibly a reaction to medication or a common virus. It sure looks a lot like the viral rash Riley had in early March (the one that caused his surgery to be postponed). If it is a virus, there's nothing they can do about it.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Last chest tube coming out
Posted by Ken Norton at 4/09/2006 09:01:00 PM
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9 comments:
for whatever it's worth... when isaac came off of the ventillator which he'd been on for 4 weeks, he had some desatting episodes. it turned out they occurred because he was aspirating fluids. so i'm not sure if riley is desatting shortly after he's drinking fluids?
now that i'm thinking about it, though, aspiration probably would have manifested itself more obviously by now. but i may as well throw it out there, anyway.
well, i got my fingers crossed on that last drain, that will surely be great! from what i understand those things are quite uncomfortable to have in one's body. i bet riley will really perk up once that's gone.
love to you guys!
Sarah
It must be be pretty frustrating not really getting to the bottom of things that are happening with Riley. Taking tubes out sounds good though, so I'm keeping everything crossed that losing the pigtail drain is actually positive. We're still thinking of you all - it must be hard still being in hospital. I hope you're all managing to get some rest and a bit of relaxation. I'm sorry we've not been up to see you, we're still all a bit runny nosed/sore throated and I know that those germs do not need to be brought up to San Francisco. But if you need a chat with the outside world I'm on the end of a phone.
Keep your chins up. Give our love to the little man.
Loads of love
Jude, Christian, Ruby and Elsa
Howdy. Just continuing to pray here that Riley goes home soon. It'll be great for all of you as I know you guys are wiped. What's the update on his eating habits? No one likes hospital food, so I don't blame him in many ways. Anyway, moving these next 2 days. Will not have as much access to a computer as I have. Love you - give a kiss to Riley from me.
Karen and Stephen
You have all been through so much. I am hoping that pulling that last drain makes a difference all the way around. I agree, being home will be the best prescription for all of you. I am there in thought. I love you all.
Grammy
I'm curious to know where Riley's baseline sats have been since the surgery? Mid to low 90's?
Often people desat while we sleep (due to a slightly obsructed airway or shallow breathing etc) and the only reason anyone would know is if you're hooked up to a Sat monitor...like Riley. Usually it is nothing serious as long as it is brief and self resloves and there's no arrhythmia associated with it (ie: heart rate slows or changes intrinsic rhythem)
As far as the sweating and the lasix...completely different mechanisms and aren't related...good thought though.Like you said, sounds like a possible viral process. Has he had any fevers associated with the sweats? This is consistant with a viral infection.
Any word on how feeding is progressing?
Keep up the good work guys.
-Dave and Marisa
We hope things continue to progress without setback. Sometimes, the closer the finish line gets, the harder it is to get there. You're all so anxious to get back home that every minor setback now is probably daunting.
But the doctors seem to be confident about his progress, so that's a good thing. We're praying that these little setbacks are minor and will not keep him in the hospital too much longer.
Glad to hear last tube coming out. It means returning home to where he will have chance to 'cool' down somewhat!
Time at home will see an advance we have not seen in some weeks. Bill & Eva
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
big hugs and kisses from the hawthornes!!!
Sorry I havent been keeping up to date the last few. I had a death in the family and was preoccupied with that for a few days. Glad to be back but was hoping for some better news. I am confident that Riley will bounce back in no time at all. He has on Iron WIll like no other. And the support he has is just amazing and you will get him past this.
Jack I still need a home mailing address please.
Lots of love from Canada.
Brenda and Cassie
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