Today we made great progress. Brandon is now off the Bipap breathing machine after 7 days. He is on oxygen and his lungs still have a long way to go, but he does not need a machine to help him breath at this point. We also stopped the aggressive respiratory treatments that Brandon hated. He is still getting respiratory treatments every 3 hours. I am hoping that they will move us to intermediate care Monday or Tuesday if he continues to improve.
The doctors have been unable to determine the exact cause of why we are here in the first place. On Thursday night when I brought him to the ER he tested negative to the flu, step and pneumonia. On Saturday night when we returned he tested positive to Type A flu which is associated with the H1N1 strain. However, a definitive test for H1N1 is done by the CDC and those results can take at least 1 month to return. Because Brandon has two tests with different results, when he came here to the ICU they did another more defined flu test and that test came back negative. I have found out that it is actually very hard to diagnose the flu because the swab has to go fairly far back in the nose to get a good sample. So the doctors in the ICU unit did another test which requires cultures to grow bacteria. These tests also take a long time and Brandon could be gone before the final results will come back. But so far there are no results from this test as well. Colleen Horton reminded me today when she came by that this is not the first time I have been searching for a diagnosis for Brandon. Two years ago when we started going to Scottish Rite the doctors there questioned why Brandon had two caverous feet. They were convinced that Brandon had an underlying condition that was not diagnosed. We have run many many tests since then trying to find a diagnosis. They also reviewed all the previous tests performed on Brandon the last 16 years and are not convinced that Brandon's diagnosis of cerebral palsy is accurate. Needless so say that conversation was a little shocking for me.
Really a diagnosis is not that important as long as Brandon gets well. It is always nice to know why so you can avoid whatever caused the problem in the first place, but medicine is not always that precise. I will continue to search for a diagnosis for Brandon's caverous foot condition because the symptoms are progressive, unlike cerebral palsy which is static.
I would like to know what caused this hospitalization and try to protect Brandon in the future. But no one really knows when a virus or a flu or any other condition will have this kind of affect. You just have to be as careful as possible to avoid an illness. Right now I just want him to get well so we can go home. More tomorrow. Leah
3 comments:
i am so glad to hear brandon is doing better with his breathing.
Leah,
Barbara Wilks let me know that your son was in the hospital and I wanted to let you know that you and Brandon and the rest of your family are all in my prayers. I'm glad that Brandon's breathing has improved. Hope he is home in his own room soon.
Sharon Bradshaw Yeates
I started on COPD Herbal treatment from Ultimate Health Home, the treatment worked incredibly for my lungs condition. I used the herbal treatment for almost 4 months, it reversed my COPD. My severe shortness of breath, dry cough, chest tightness gradually disappeared. Reach Ultimate Health Home via their website www.ultimatelifeclinic.com I can breath much better and It feels comfortable!
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