Donations help fund life-saving equipment at the Alberta Children's Hospital
One-year-old Carver Flynn is a busy little boy. He’s constantly on the move, learning to crawl and loves copying everything his twin brother Archer does.
As hectic as life with twin toddlers can be, the boys’ parents Jennifer and Mark are grateful to have their hands full. Without experts at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and community-funded equipment needed to save his life, Carver might not be here today.
Carver and Archer were born three-and-a-half months early. After months of neonatal intensive care in Calgary, their parents were relieved to return home to Medicine Hat with them. However, before long, Jennifer noticed baby Carver struggling to breathe. At first, doctors suspected he might have a cold. But when he wasn’t getting better at home, they hospitalized Carver and began treating him for croup. Still, his condition worsened.
The Medicine Hat team soon realized Carver needed the expertise of the Alberta Children’s Hospital and called for assistance from the Pediatric Critical Care Transport (PCCT) team. Like a mobile intensive care unit, the PCCT team, made possible by community support, travels to smaller communities by ground or air ambulance to stabilize and treat seriously ill children and
bring them to the Alberta Children’s Hospital for critical care.
“When I saw the Transport team from the Children’s walk in, I was terrified because it meant Carver’s situation was more serious than we thought,” says Jennifer. “But I also felt reassured that he was going to be in the best hands.”
The team conducted a video call with Alberta Children’s Hospital intensivist Dr. Jaime Blackwood, who suspected something more severe was impacting Carver’s airway. With his breathing deteriorating and his lungs not as robust as a fullterm baby’s, they decided he needed to be intubated and put onto a transport ventilator before flying to Calgary.
“Each second that goes by when an airway is obstructed can lead to dangerously low oxygen levels that cause damage to the brain, heart and other organs,” says Dr. Blackwood. “While examining Carver through the video call, I became very worried that his airway was obstructed. He just couldn’t catch his breath.”
With her husband by her side, Jennifer carried Carver in her arms to the operating room.
“They let me hold his hand until he was sedated and intubated,” she says. “The Transport team stood beside us and made us feel so safe and supported.”
They didn’t know it yet, but Carver had even more people in his corner. Thanks to generous donors to the Country 105 Caring for Kids Radiothon, the Transport team was equipped with state-of-the-art video-capable laryngoscopes to help view Carver’s compromised airway. The anesthetist took photos and video of Carver’s trachea to send to ENT (ears, nose and throat) specialist Dr. James Brookes at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Those images revealed multiple cysts blocking 80 to 90 per cent of Carver’s airway.
“His airway should have been about five millimetres in diameter, but the cysts were blocking four millimetres, leaving about the width of a pin for oxygen to get through,” says Dr. Brookes.
Carver was safely loaded onto the airplane by the Transport team. Even with the aircraft’s movement, noise and tight space, the team was able to keep close tabs on Carver’s condition and make changes when necessary thanks to a special monitor purchased during last year’s Radiothon. The monitor is specially designed for the changing inflight conditions of a transport, and because of Carver’s size, having the most precise and accurate readings were crucial to keeping him safe.
At the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Dr. Brookes was able to surgically remove the cysts and it wasn’t long before Carver was back to his usual self, laughing at a mobile placed above his hospital bed.
“We are so thankful there is a dedicated team of experts at the ready with the most specialized equipment available to get our babies where they need to be,” says Jennifer. “If we didn’t have the Transport team and all of the amazing specialists, I don’t know if Carver would be with us today.”
Tune in to country105. com to hear more of Carver’s story — and many others — during the Caring for Kids Radiothon Feb. 3, 4 and 5. This year, your donations can be DOUBLED as part of a Million Dollar Match! Visit kidsradiothon.com.