Friday, October 22, 2010

Apnea, MRI Results, & A New Concern

It has been a long rough day. Elias has stopped breathing 11 times in the past 26 hours. 10 of those have been since 2:30 this afternoon. He has needed to have supplemental oxygen to recover each time. Ironically, the neurologist called this afternoon to discuss the results of the MRI last week. There is no evidence of seizure activity or issues anatomically that would suggest a Central Apnea. That does not mean this still is not the case though. Of course, a cut and dry answer for Elias!? Never!!!!!!! The neurologist did ask a series of question about today's episodes to get some other information. She is pretty confident that this is not seizure related based on his interaction response during each episode. We also ironically just saw Pulmonary on Tuesday which I will update on that visit this weekend. Everyone agrees that this is not going to be an easy mystery and that handling this the way we have is still the best. It is just stressful, worrisome, and exhausting.
The only other finding to the MRI is a mass in the white matter of the left frontal lobe. While this type of thing could show up for a number of reasons, most of which are inconsequential, there is a need to treat it with respect. There is a small chance it could be a tumor of some sort. We will repeat the MRI in about 4 months. Even if this shows up again that doesn't always mean anything, but might prompt further testing. Even though she was downplaying this finding, it is a little unsettling. Just one more thing to be concerned about. It just never ends. We will keep everyone posted on this, but it will be a few months before we know anything more. Tonight we have other, more pressing concerns with Elias breathing.
At the time of this posting Elias is sleeping and on the ventilator. It is doing all the work though. We think he is so exhausted his body is allowing the vent to breathe for him. We had to raise the rate to 15 bpm to keep his Sats up but hopefully he will relax, breathe on his own when he can and be better tomorrow. Thank you all for you concerns, thoughts & prayers, especially for the newest issue.
By the way if you haven't seen it already, check out the Videos in the side bar to the right. There is a short new video of Elias walking and kinda babbling! It's adorable!
Sent via BlackBerry

No comments:

Post a Comment

Share your thoughts or questions

We appreciate you reading and following Elias' journey.