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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Bradyn Survives Another Scare!

We have made it through yet another terrifying event. It all started Saturday night. Bradyn was fine all day and fine when I put him in bed. He was only down about five minutes and I heard him. I was not worried because that is normal for him. He was squirming around a little but really did not wake up all the way. I felt the sheet and it was wet. He had thrown up and did not wake up. I thought it was strange, but I was glad that he did not wake up and get upset. I got him up so Jarrod could change the sheets. He started to act like he was going to be sick again and he opened his eyes a little. His lips started twitching and his eyes were fixed to one side. He also started drooling a lot. I yelled for Jarrod to come in the room and told him something was wrong. We could not get Bradyn to respond to us at all.
I called Grammy and Grandpa to come over and he did not respond to them either. I started calling his doctors and they said to take him to the ER. I really thought his shunt was failing and he would need to get a new one. By this point his neck was totally stiff and he was still drooling and his eyes were still fixed. The ER quickly decided he needed to go to Amarillo (duh). I was so scared. Bradyn did not respond even when the nurses stuck him with the needle. I got to ride on the ambulance with him. He was still not responding to us.
The EMT's were in contact with Lifestar (the helicopter to get to Amarillo quickly) the whole way. We met them in Stinnett and flew on to Amarillo. He was still not responding. The flight took 20 minutes and I had to ride in the front with the pilot so I did not see Bradyn. The nurse gave me a headphone so he could talk to me the whole time.
We finally arrived at the ER at Northwest Texas Hospital. They began evaluating him and doing several tests. He got stuck several more times with no response. Finally when they had to stick him in the foot he jumped. His CT scan showed no change from the previous exam. That meant that his shunt was working. The doctors were puzzled. All of his lab work came back normal. Again, they were puzzled. There was not any apparent reason (yet) for Bradyn to have this seizure.
They put Bradyn in Pedi ICU. The ICU doctor said that she wanted to send us on to Dallas in the morning since that is where his neurologist is and there is not a pediatric neurologist in Amarillo. That meant that we would be getting on a medical plane in just a few hours and going to Dallas. By about 4:00 a.m. Bradyn started running a fever. It was going up quickly. It got up to 104.7 before it finally broke. They had the thermostat set on 60 and Bradyn was packed in ice and it was still rising. He was only in his diaper and he had a fan pointed on him. Jarrod and I were so cold. We had on sweatshirts and covered up with blankets. Since Bradyn got the fever the doctor said she was now concerned that the shunt was infected. This would mean that he would need surgery to remove the old one and put in a drain. They would give him antibiotics for a couple of days and then go back to surgery to put in the new one. The trip to Dallas was cancelled. The doctors came in and put a needle in his head where the shunt and took some spinal fluid to test for infection. That too came back normal. They finally decided that a virus caused all of this. He spent a couple of days in ICU and then moved to a regular room for a day.
We came home on Wednesday. We were sooooo tired and glad to be home. I am so glad that it was only a virus, but I am also scared that it will happen again. In an instant life can change. We are so thankful for Bradyn and glad that he is alright.




This is like the one Bradyn and I rode on.

We did not have the camera so I got these with the phone. After he was feeling a little better we had to keep him entertained. Grammy discovered that he loves peppermints. He ate several in his mesh chew toy.
Poor Bradyn cried a lot in the hospital.
More peppermint! He got so excited and would kick and smile.
Let me out of here!
We had to buy a new bouncy ball so Grandpa could bounce Bradyn. We decided we need to pack an emergency bag that will have clothes, bathroom stuff, and a bouncy ball.
The wagon kept him happy for a little bit.





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