Saul Hedlund

Welcome- thank you for visiting Saul's website and checking in on our journey.  We are now at home!

115 Nicholas Drive, Lewiston, MN, 55952

Please feel free to contact us-
Nathan's Cell:  (507) 450-1382 {call or text}
Susan's Cell:  (507) 450-5049 {call or text}
Nathan's email:  nhedlund7050@hotmail.com (mailto:nhedlund7050@hotmail.com)
Susan's email:  sbaylor3078@hotmail.com (mailto:sbaylor3078@hotmail.com)



This all started on Sunday, February 6th when Saul had a fever.  Thought nothing of it, and expected it was a cold or flu bug.  His fever resolved by midweek, and he was back to daycare Thurday and Friday.  By Friday night, he vomitted twice.  Saturday was okay.  A bit less energy and decreased appetite, but drinking lots of fluid.  Vommited 3 or 4 times that day, but still seemed to be no major issue.  By Sunday (13th), he was very sick.  No appetite, fearing dehydration because he couldn't keep even water down, and breathing very fast (60+ times/minute)  That night we came to the ER, and have been here since.

Original diagnosis was pneumonia becuase they could see fluid in his lungs.  But a night of antibiotics later he wasn't any better, and in fact, worse.  Through many tests and evaluations, he was finally diagnosed with viral myocarditis.  So, from that point forward it was a matter of trying to keep him stable so that they could rid the extra fluids from his body, and let his heart heal.

The biggest scare so far was on Monday (14th) when they put him under with anesthesia to place a central IV line.  Right after they started administiring the anesthesia, his heart rate dropped very low, along with blood pressure and oxygen saturation.  The staff called a code and had to provide chest compressions for about a minute.  His heart didn't stop, but they gave compressions to circulate the drugs needed to get his heart pumping more rapidly again.

The next major blow came on Tuesday (15th) morning, when after not seeing any improvement from the night before, we had to start talking with cardiology about options to bypass his heart, and even consider heart transplant.

The infectious disease doctors continue to talk with us about the details of how he became sick, and what may have triggered this event from his environment.  All information is pointing to this being an accute occurrence, and expect that his original fever was when this started with some type of virus, not some chronic underlying issue that was revealed when he was exposed.

He continues to make small improvements.  We're cautiously optimistic that we're on the road to recovery.  One small step at a time, we're going to beat this...