Well, Ryli is having a difficult time again. She had some minor cold symptoms all week, so we had been keeping a close eye on her. Saturday morning we took her to her pediatrician to see if she needed an antibiotic to help her along. To be on the safe side he decided to admit her. Late Saturday afternoon she started getting pale, and unresponsive. They intubated her (for her third time) and flew her on the Flight for Life helicopter to P/SL (Presbyterians/Saint Luke’s) Hospital downtown. She has been doing well since she arrived, but has been generating an incredible amount of secretions. She tested positive then negative for RSV (a respiratory virus) and negative then positive for Influenza. After further testing they have decided that she has influenza.

Ryli is very contagious, so think of your family first if you decide to visit. She is under “Zero Contact” rules, which means if you are to go within three feet of her, you need to wear a gown, mask, and rubber gloves.

With her secretion management being at issue again, there is a lot of talk about a tracheotomy. I think that mommy and daddy are at the point now where our fear of the tracheotomy is less than our fear of the alternative. She will probably be evaluated for it this visit. We hope and pray that we make the right decisions for Ryli.

False Positives

Tuesday October 25th, 2005

After several repeated tests, it appears that Ryli is negative for RSV, and for Flu. Not sure what caused her increased secretions that landed her at the hospital, but some sort of virus is probably to blame.

Tracheotomy

Thursday October 27th, 2005

Ryli had her tracheotomy surgery. Everything went well and she is recovering fine. She should be sent home by about November 2^nd. Thanks for all of the support. Please continue to pray for our baby.

Home!

Wednesday November 2nd, 2005

Ryli went home late Wednesday night. This was one of the most difficult nights of our lives. As soon as we walked in the door, she was having trouble breathing. We suctioned her and cleared her airway, but she just kept having trouble. We monitored her stats and her heartbeat was high, and her oxygen saturations were a little low. We just kept doing the things we were taught at the hospital and remained as calm as we could. We got her relaxed and kept on top of the secretions until she finally fell asleep at about 6:00am. Then things were fine. I’m anxious for the days when we can look back and just talk about how difficult things were. What will Ryli think when she reads this web page?

Ryli is very contagious, so think of your family first if you decide to visit. She is under “Zero Contact” rules, which means if you are to go within three feet of her, you need to wear a gown, mask, and rubber gloves.

Ryli had her tracheotomy surgery. Everything went well and she is recovering fine. She should be sent home by about November 2nd. Thanks for all of the support. Please continue to pray for our baby.

Ryli had her tracheotomy surgery. Everything went well and she is recovering fine. She should be sent home by about November 2^nd. Thanks for all of the support. Please continue to pray for our baby.