Riley had a difficult night with coughing and vomiting. This morning Suzanne noticed that his breathing was labored with flared nostrils and concave chest. She contacted the advice nurse and they instructed her to bring him to the Kaiser Redwood City ER. Riley's oxygen saturation is normal (for him) at about 92% but he is clearly experiencing perfusion problems. He looks very blue to us and his extremities are cold and white to the touch. They performed a chest x-ray and discovered significant fluid build-up on both sides of his chest. His lungs are barely visible on the film, especially when compared to the x-ray from January. After consultation with the cardiologists they've decided to transport him to UCSF. They are freeing a bed for him now and should send an ambulance for him between 3 and 3:30 pm Pacific time.
Based on the x-ray they suspect either pneumonia or Fontan-related complications (or both). They administered some preventative medications in the event it is pneumonia (we didn't get the name). They're working him up for an IV now in advance of transport. I ran home with Carter to pack a bag and grab some stuff for the hospital. I also need to change - I was riding my bike when Suzanne called me and I've been walking around in my cycling kit for the past several hours.
We'll have more updates after we are admitted to UCSF and there is progress to report.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Riley is being transported to UCSF now
Posted by Ken Norton at 3/03/2007 01:52:00 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Greetings from Baltimore. You are all in our thoughts and prayers at every moment. Please keep us updated! Much love, Grammy, Auntie and Stephen
Hey guys,
Marisa and I are keeping an eye on you all.
It sounds as if Riley has developed a worsening Chylothorax (lymphatic fluid in the sac that surrounds the lungs) effusion (fluid collection). They may have to "tap" it to drain it. (Thorocentesis)
If it were a pneumonia, he would have a fever most likely.
keep us posted.
Cousin Dave and Marisa
Hi, My name is Tamara and I am 25 with Tetralogy of Fallot, my CHD is different than your son's. I just wanted to say that Riley will be in my prayers but I also wanted to let you know about www.achaheart.org it is a site for adults with chd's but there are alot of people on the message board that talk about having the "fontan" procedure done and i thought they might be able to help you with some of your questions or just relate to your fustrations. Best of luck, i hope Riley gets well soon
~Tamara
Ken and Family, our thoughts are with you. Please let me know what you might need (i can run things up to UCSF: dinners, clothes, ...etc)
- Eric, Jennifer, Collin, Casey Colson
Post a Comment