Jaundice

Well, after an 8 1/2 hour emergency visit, Tyler was released home to run further tests tomorrow. We went to the ER because Tyler was looking very jaundiced. It is amazing how much closer we have to watch him because of his heart condition. I learned that jaundice, which we all know is very common and not a big deal in newborns, is a big deal in older babies, like Tyler. When a child shows signs of jaundice after weeks or months, it's usually associated with liver failure. The ER doctors ran bilirubin tests and they showed that the levels were at 6, which is very elevated. Normal is <1. Jaundice is yellowish discoloration of the skin and eyes caused by hyperbilirubinemia. When red blood cells die, the heme in their hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin in the spleen and in the hepatocytes in the liver. The bilirubin is processed by the liver, enters bile and is eventually excreted through feces. For some reason he isn't excreting it. There are three different classes of causes for jaundice. Pre-hepatic or hemolytic causes, where too many red blood cells are broken down, hepatic causes where the processing of bilirubin in the liver does not function correctly, and post-hepatic or extrahepatic causes, where the removal of bile is disturbed. In simple terms, they think that Tyler either has hepatic causes, acquired hepatitis from a blood transfusion or has some type of viral infection. Or has post-hepatic, a blockage from poor circulation or a blood clot due to his heart, a malformed liver or obstruction such as a cyst. Lastly, he could have liver failure due to congestive heart failure, however, they don't think this is the case. They are going to do an extensive ultrasound of his liver to check for malformations or obstructions tomorrow or Tuesday and are doing all types of blood work to further diagnose. We will keep you posted. Heidi's medical advice..if you notice your kid is jaundiced weeks or months after being born bring them in...it could be a big deal. We'll keep you updated on the medical sagas of our little one. We are both pretty tired from lack of sleep so night night. I'll post pics tomorrow of our yellow boy and ER visit.