oh bother

Ford is back in the hospital, though not for what we worry most about - respiratory distress or heart failure - but potential infection. the incision on his chest bled a bit monday night and by tuesday morning stiches had poked themselves out of the skin and the area was red and puffy.

dr. Human thought sending him home on oral antibiotics would be a safe course, but after surgeon dr. Campbell took a look at it he admitted Ford and ordered IV antibiotics - they act faster.

in the meantime, while looking at his incision, we also talked about Ford's high level of irritability. we've been attributing some of it to his frequent vomiting/gagging fits - which haven't increased in frequency of late (10-15 times a day) but each "attack" has been lasting longer, up to 10 awful minutes each time. instead, dr. Human pondered it could be very bad post-Glenn headaches that are keeping Ford unhappy (note he isn't entirely unhappy - but since the Glenn he has not been the same baby as he was before). headaches are caused by the increase pressure in the head, now that the SVC is moving blood simply by gravity, instead of being pumped by the heart. these headaches can last a couple post-op months at least, but dr. Human wants to rule out anything worse than just increased pressure - like a missed clot. they've ordered a CT scan of Ford's brain. that test will take place tomorrow.

speaking of clots, the one formed in Ford's left ventricle has come down in size and they discontinued Ford's twice daily enoxaparin injections. hurrah! no more stabbing needles into his thighs. we're pleased with that. Ford will be kept on some aspirin instead.

the feeding study Ford had last week went perfectly - he swallows well, with a good rhythm, and he protects his airway when swallowing or crying. so that was assuring. it does mean that his vomiting thing is therefore not caused by an uncoordinated swallow.

they haven't seen an HLHS baby with this gagging problem before and their lack of insight is disheartening.

as you can guess, being back in the hospital is also disheartening, though very familiar. the treatment is done over the course of 48 hours, so hopefully the stay isn't any longer than that.