Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Complication - damage to blood vessels

Wren has been started on a heparin drip to help restore circulation to his legs. Apparently they did the cath on his right leg but also tried to gain entry on his left. As a result both are obstructed leading to a blockage of blood flow to the leg below the area where the catheter was inserted.

The attending cardiologist couldn't find pulses in either leg - or the left ones were very faint. His left leg looks mottled and his right is pale and cooler than the rest of him although still perfusing fairly well.

We are hoping the heparin works because they are keen to maintain the artery in case future cath procedures are needed. Apparently there are no other access points for caths and the cardiologist mentioned more aggressive and risky drugs which could be used if it was considered imperative to recover the veins.

Besides this being bad on its own it means Wren will not be discharged tomorrow. He is on a 24 hour Heparin drip through an IV in his left arm and will need a blood draw at 1am to check the heparin levels. HIs pulses will be checked regularly and we want them to improve in both feet. If the treatment works it will be THursday before we go home.

We also want some sleep - well, I do, anyway.

2 comments:

Wyndi said...

I hope that you all can get some sleep with all this going on around you. it is so hard to sleep there. If you need anything let us know.

Wyndi said...

We are of course keeping you all in our thought and prayers.