In better sprits

Despite the fact that Riley has eaten next to nothing today, has drank very little, has continued to have diarrhea and an upset stomach, he has been a bit more cheerful and talkative. This is encouraging. Doctors still don't know really what is going on with him, but he has now had two of the five doses of the precautionary super antibiotic Z-Pak.

Riley had another x-ray this morning that showed no change in the fluid levels in his lungs. Another x-ray is expected tomorrow morning. As for the diarrhea, a stool culture was mentioned, but no lab slip was written up. There is concern that he will become dehydrated again because he isn't drinking much and he is having diarrhea. This could leave to additional IV fluids, but nothing definite at this point.

His oxygen saturation had dipped down to 90 this evening. That's down from 96/97 at the end of August. It was 94/95 on Monday and Tuesday. No one is concerned at this point, but the cardiology team wants to be alerted if it falls into the 80s. All the fluid in his lungs is making it difficult to keep himself as oxygenated.

Last night his cough kept him awake until the wee hours of the morning. I had cardiology paged and expressed my concern for treating the cough. I was told that they do not like to prescribe cough suppressants because coughing is necessary to get the phlegm out, however I feel it's also necessary to sleep. Finally Benadryl was ordered and Riley (along with the rest of us) were able to get four or five hours of sleep. There is already an order in place for Benadryl for Thursday night, which will hopefully help Ken sleep as well. Carter and I headed back to the house because Carter has been sleeping in his stroller (probably not all that comfortable) and he's been waking to nurse frequently (not fun for me either).