Greetings friends of Boo Bear. We are logging in from the 5th floor of Children’s Masonic Hospital in downtown Minneapolis. We have been here for 12 days. 12 days ago Ravi admitted to the clinic with extreme shortness of breath and exhaustion. While receiving a blood transfusion he spiked a fever of 102.5 and was promptly admitted to the hospital on IV antibiotics. For a day we were not sure where the infection was situated. Friday night it became obvious the infection was in his left arm. Emergency surgery was done early Saturday morning to wash out the hardware in his resected arm. Ravi was returned to floor 5 with 2 drains in his arm, a thick bandage, and loads of antibiotics and fluids. It became obvious that the hardware would have to be taken out and replaced. Dr. Houdek, at Mayo, was the surgeon who originally resected Ravi’s left arm. I reached out to him, as he knows Ravi and the hardware best.
Several days passed before I was able to get Dr. Houdek and Dr. Hooks, Ravi’s resident at Childrens Hospital to talk to each other. The conversation happened in the last hour. Basically, the hardware has to be taken out. This is complicated by the fact that Ravi has a healing pressure sore on the back of his left shoulder. Despite our hard work, this is how the infection got into his system in the first place. Dr Houdek is waiting for an OR to open up at Mayo. When that happens, Ravi will be transported by ambulance from Minneapolis to Rochester. Dr Houdek will reopen the arm and attempt to replace the infected hardware. His caveat is this, if he cannot do this, he will amputate Ravi’s left arm.
At the moment I feel as though we are living in a nightmare. I do not know how I can explain to Ravi if something were to happen to his arm. He has been so very brave the last 16 months. He has endured so much. My fervent hope and prayer is that the arm can be salvaged.
Clinically speaking, Ravi is doing well, as long as he is on IV antibiotics. He is eating and sleeping well. He is able to take walks in the hall without being exhausted after 20 steps. His kidneys function is respectable. What we need now is this, an OR to open up and for Dr. Houdek to perform another miracle and salvage the arm. This will be major surgery, just like his surgery of July 28, 2023.
If you are reading this, please pray, light a candle, send you best white light and energies to Ravi and to Dr. Houdek. We will keep you posted as best as we are able. In the meantime, be good humans and we will be in touch. Harriet.
Harriet's Hedgehogs and Autism Advocacy 