Time To Solve the Mystery

This is mommy reporting in because Colton is too sick to chat today. He had a rough night last night with the nurses unable to resolve the pee-pee problem. I recieved a boatload of information this morning and will do my best to disseminate to all of you. So here goes:

1) VSD - the echocardiogram came back consistent with what we already knew. The VSD is still small to moderate. No news there.

2) Renal failure - as of last night he was in renal failure. They gave him Lasix (diuretic) and a bunch of saline to try and up his fluids. This morning he pee-pee'd 18mLs which I am told is about what he should output in an entire day. So now we are on the opposite end of the spectrum where he is peeing too much now. They are still unsure of why this happened and are trying to figure out. It could be because of the start of feeding him or because of the Captopril they started on Sunday (heart medication).

3) Intestines - I was told that when the kidneys stop profusing (making urine) there is no blood supply to the kidneys. In lieu of blood to the kidneys it goes to collect in one of two places, either the brain or the belly. They did a head ultrasound this morning and the scan was clear. They also did a belly x-ray and while they said nothing jumped out as abnormal, it didn't look totally normal either. They will do another series of belly xrays and ultrasound this afternoon.

4) Infection - they are worried there might be a start of an intestinal infection although his blood work isn't showing anything. They are watching for pockets of air in his intestines which could be indicative of bacteria producing gasses in his intestines. For now they have him on a high-powered antibiotic as a preventative measure.

5) Balancing act - right now the course of action is a lot of tests and monitoring. Colton has the lead right now and the treatment will follow suit. They need to keep the balance of sodium and potassium up since he is peeing so much. The ventilator settings are way up as he is needing a lot of help breathing right now as well.

Keep the prayers up, he really needs them now. As a mommy, I just want to hold him and make it better, but we are on restriction from that now too. Send all your love to Colton!