TrachKids.org

TrachKid Profile

Riley William Broussard was born November 17, 2008 in New Orleans, LA at 10:58am weighing in at 1lb 10.5oz and 13in long. My due date was February 23, 2009. I had gone to the hospital with cramps and baby heart monitors and ultrasounds determined that Riley had to come out right then or he wouldnt have made it another 24-48 hours. My placenta was giving up and the blood flow was reversing. Riley had bleeding in the brain BEFORE he was even born! His older sister Kayla Lynn was stillborn May 21, 2004 with her unbilical cord kinked. The same would have happened to Riley. It was miracle I went to the hospital when I did.

Riley had his 1st surgery at 8 days old to close his PDA valve, due to the bleeding in his brain he wasnt a candidate for the meds. He had a shot off the ventalator once before this surgery but failed, however, he lasted the longest then... then he did anytime after the PDA surgery.

Riley was trached Jan 30, 09 after a broncoscopy revealed his vocal cords were paralyzed. He also got chronic lung disease from being vent dependent fot almost 3 months. The Dr. said, "It's not like he will have the trach for 10 years, but it will be a while."

 Feb 18, 09 Riley had his Gtube and Nissen surgery. After trying the bottle he failed the 2nd try by aspirating. The night of the day he had the surgery Dad and I got a call at 5am saying Riley may not survive. His blood gas levels were dangerously high and may not make it through the next 24 hours. We rushed to be with our son. After an agonizing 24 hours and more, of praying, worrying, and crying Riley pulled through!

 2 days ago, Easter Sunday, Dad and I have started our rooming in process where we stay at the hospital and our son stays in the room with us alone, and we care for him on our own. In about a week we will all be going home TOGETHER! It has almost been 5 WHOLE MONTHS since Riley was born! We are ready for him to come home. We are excited and nervous. I am afraid, afraid I may mess up. He has such special needs to be taken care of I hope I am capeable. If anyone has any advice or kind words to share, please email me at, Surferbunch@aol.com, my name is Krystal and I am 24 years old. Any words will be appreciated!

I will do my best to keep everyone updated on our progress!

******UPDATE******
May 2009
Riley came home from the NICU one day before he turned 5 months old! April 16, 09. We were doing so well, with family visiting and all. Then May 6 happened. Earlier in the day, Rileys dad and myself moved around some equiptment and had to entend the tubing. Appearently the tubing the company gave us just for that reason, was the WRONG one!! I was sitting in the living room, home alone, when Rileys apnea monitor went off. It wasnt his respitory! His heart rate plummited! His entire body was blue and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head and he wasnt breathing! There was no time to think, just act. I put him on his H oxygen tank, and that wasnt bringing him up, so I got his ambu bag and began CPR. Once his heart rate was going up, I called 911. They stayed on the phone until paramedics arrived. By the time they did Riley was breathing and pink again!! I couldnt believe what I did. Then I started to cry. We truely had someone helping us both make it through. I thank God everyday for giving me strength and courage to overcome such an aweful aweful situation. *sigh*

I decided that I wanted Riley admitted into the hospital so he could be evaluated. Good thing. He was struggling to breathe later that night and they started him on recimic epi. The next day ENT took a look in his trach and saw he had an 80% blockage!! He had some granuloma (scar tissue)! The next day he had surgery to remove it and was breathing better! We went home 2 days later with a few perscriptions. One was the recmic epi. Appearently that is NOT a pharmacutical drug, but an ER drug. No pharmacy had it! They told us if Riley didnt get it he could choke! We noticed he was struggling to breath again! We called the hospital that we just left only hours before and told the Dr. He was furious they let us go while Riley was still weining off that med! He told us to rush Riley to the nearest ER to get the med. Right after, he was breating better and went right to sleep. We had to take him back the the hospital so he could be weined off the drug and observed. It was 4 more days until we went home again, but this time... we stayed!

Rileys vocal cords are better! Now he just has to have the trach until his trachael malasia gets better. The cure, gaining weight and he has NO problem in that area!!

Our visit to the nuerosurgeon had some stinky news though. He says Riley is developing some hyrocephalus. It may plateau like his IVH did, and that is what we are praying for. His neonatologist gave Riley a 1 in 100 chance NOT to have the permanent shunt put in due to the bleeding, and he was that 1!!! So we pray for yet another miracle. It isnt so severe and Riley has great motor skills for a baby his gestational age. Im so proud of him. Today he started to interact with one of his toys! If I show him something one time, he picks it up right away! Thats my boy!

We have taken Riley out, other than to the Dr. and he LOVED it! In june we are taking him to my Dads luau where he will have his own lil baby pool to enjoy. I got him an adorable bathing suit and rash guard type shirt and floppy hat. When he is done in the pool he has an awesome hawaiian shirt to wear. We cannot wait. Rileys heartrate and SATS are so much better when we go out just for fun. We dont do it often, but I think it is really good for him.   Thats all the news for now! 

• Gender: Male
• Demographic Region: North America
• Medical Conditions: Subglottic Stenosis, Preemie, Tracheomalacia, G-Tube, Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, nissen fundoplication, Chronic Lung Disease, Hydrocephalus, Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Stridor

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United States

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Louisiana