Tucker, born 2008

Tucker John was born on August 13, 2008 at 8:13 PM.  He weighed 9lbs 5oz and was 21" long. Tucker appeared to be a healthy baby boy.  We called with concerns over the first weekend, we were worried about him not eating and sleeping a lot.  We were told to give it a couple days. Late Tuesday, August 19th, Tucker would not eat very much for us, was not wetting his diaper, and was vomiting up reddish/brown specks.  This continued into Wednesday, August 20th we called the doctor and took him in. They did chest and tummy x-rays and blood work and it all came back okay. He was given a diagnosis of acid reflux.  We took him home but he continued to vomit through the night, by early morning he was lethargic and his eyes were rolling around.

 

We took him to the ER early Thursday morning where they did all the tests again to compare to the day before.  Things had changed drastically for the worse. They put Tucker on oxygen and started him on an IV. The doctor told us at that point that Tucker would not be staying at the hospital and that he would be taken by med flight to St. Mary's hospital in Madison.  We drove to Madison, about 1-1/2 hour trip, while Tucker had his first 20 minute helicopter ride of the day. It was shortly after we arrived that they discovered that Tucker was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. They told us that he would have to be med flighted to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

 

Tucker was off on his second helicopter ride and once again we were off in the car.  Tucker had great care Thursday afternoon and evening. The stress had made his kidneys and liver become a little sick.  He was put on meds, fluids, blood product and a respirator. Tucker was sedated and paralyzed to keep him comfortable. He improved greatly over night, which was a huge relief.  They even began backing off some of the meds, taking him off of the sedation and paralysis.

 

Tucker is the light of our life and that of his big sister.  This journey has given us a new perspective on life.

 

Story by Tucker's mom, Michelle -  WISCONSIN