Marcus Update #20

Hello again. Well... we had an unexpected hospital stay this last week. Here's the story... Marcus caught a cold from Aliyah on Monday and was handling it very well until Wednesday night, when he started breathing really fast and his heart rate was around 170 even at rest. So we called the nurse, and the pulmonologist, and ended up taking Marcus to the ER here in town at about 11 pm. They kept us for a few hours and did tests (flu, RSV, Pneumonia -chest x-ray, blood work) and everything came back negative. His white blood cell count was a little high though and he had a fever by this time. His breathing was still really fast, and his heart rate was also still fast. So at 2:30 am we climbed into an ambulance and took a ride to Phoenix Childrens Hospital.

We arrived at 4 am, and went through the same tests in their ER. Then Marcus was admitted to their PICU. They did their stuff and we got to sleep around 6:30 am. Not much sleep obviously. The pulmonologist saw Marcus a couple of times and I asked many questions. Anyways... we came home yesterday (Friday) evening, so weren't in very long at all. Here is an explanation of what is going on with Marcus's health right now...

The pulmonologist explained that he thinks that Marcus has scar tissue on his lung tissue, which is causing the blood to not be adequately oxygenated. he said this could be from having been born early, been on a ventilator, and having had pneumonia a few times. He said the tissue does regenerate, but he needs to stay healthy for a while. He also wants to have a CT scan done on Marcus's chest, and a swallow study done when he is healthy again. This cold he got seems to have turned into broncialitis this time. He is doing very well now. He is on quite a few more medications now to try to help his lungs.

So now I guess we need to be praying for Marcus's lung tissue to regenerate and be healthy. Please pray that he stays healthy through the winter. Thank you for your continued concern for and prayers for our son, Marcus. God bless you. Kim

Marcus update #19

Hi.. I wanted to let you all know how Marcus's heart cath. went on Monday and also explain to you the best I can what they found.

So.. the test itself went well with no complications. I was able to stay with him until he was asleep. It took about 3 1/2 hours. Marcus then was in the recovery room for another 3 hours.

They found that Marcus's heart is doing well and is not causing his oxygen need. A lot of head scratching and a lot of tests went on. "Nope that's not it, hmm what could it be? Let's try this test." What they think is causing the oxygen need, and the recent increase in his need, is his lungs. There seems to be a problem with the exchange between his capillaries and his lung tissue. Basically what I understand is that his blood is not being properly oxygenated on it's trip to his lungs.

What's next? We have an appointment with the pulmonologist on October 26th at Phoenix Childrens Hospital to discuss this further. The cardiologist group is going to discuss Marcus's condition at their meeting this month, and we will be following up with his cardiologist soon too (no appointment scheduled yet).

I will continue to keep you informed about what is going on with Marcus. I'll try to add more pictures next time. Marcus is doing well, getting stronger, and growing - he is almost 16 lbs now. He is fighting off colds better each time - he had one a few weeks ago, and it was really not a big deal this time. No breathing treatments, no pneumonia, no hospital.

Thanks for your prayers. We appreciate them very much.