Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Curious Behavior

Yesterday afternoon, Isaac demonstrated some peculiar behavior. While he was awake, his eyes began fluttering in a choppy fashion - much like a ball bouncing within a box. He then brought both arms into his chest, similar to a chest press, & raised his eyebrows. Then relaxed. This rhythm repeated about 8 or 9 times, then he was back to himself & eventually, fell fast asleep. I mentioned it to his nurse & we decided just to keep an eye out for it occurring again. It wasn't until last night that this behavioral rhythm returned, occurring more frequently. They continued sporadically even after getting a second bolus of sedation meds.

We're concerned that this may be seizure activity. The rapid eye movement & repeated rhythmic behavior points towards this, however his vitals are unaffected by each episode. So one other possibility is that he is retching, which like dry-heaving. An EEG will be done on Isaac today, monitoring brain activities for a period of time to determine whether he is in fact having seizures & hopefully the cause of them. Seizures can result from a variety of causes: dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, bleeding in the brain. For now, its a waiting game to see what Isaac does & what the EEG shows.

Isaac's white cell count is up this morning as well, which indicates either infection or validates seizure activity. Culture results should be back within the next 48 hours to validate whether or not he has an infection. On a positive note, respiratory therapy has gone down again on his rate (amount of breaths given per minute by the machine) from 14 to 10 & so far, our boy has taken the change in stride. The next blood gas will tell us more of how he's handling the change. This may be one step closer to extubation.

So that's the news for now: possible seizures & infection, but progress on the vent. More to come later tonight...

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Praise God for He is worthy of all Glory and Honor. We continue to pray for Isaac's health.

Anonymous said...

We will be praying for positive results. Isaac is a strong willed little man.
In His Love,
The Trueloves

Anonymous said...

Praying for a good report may God continue to bless your family in every area and my your faithfulness be rewarded Issac so blessed to have parents that know the Lord and the the Power of His might.

Anonymous said...

We continue to pray for Isaac for you two as well.

Much Love,
Jim & Carol C.

Anonymous said...

What a precious little man u have.
Hope the test comes back with good reports. Praying hard for baby Leino.

Gina Witcher / Runnermom4 said...

Patience,

It is such a blessing to read your blog everyday. My heart always sinks when something new arises, and then as I pray God reminds me He is still in control, and to keep praying because it's all part of His ultimate plan.

We love you guys!
The Witchers

Gina Witcher / Runnermom4 said...

Father, please help the doctors to address this new issue. Protect Isaac from anything the enemy wants to do to hurt this child (not that everything bad that happens is "the enemy"). We thank you for the progress and ask for Your continual intervention in all Isaac's health issues. We love you and give you all the praise for all You've done and are going to do.

Anonymous said...

I pray the doctors find answers on what is happening to your precious son. I pray all the results of all his tests come back positive!

Love in Christ,
Taneha

Pete, Ali, Charlie and Rosie said...

Hello, I stumbled across your blog after reading a posting on the Be Not Afraid website. (The stories of both my sons are there - Will, who had Meckel Gruber Syndrome, and Charlie who has HLHS and is three and a half). I am so sorry that you are having such a difficult time of things, and truly hope that everything settles down soon and that your road to taking Isaac home becomes a little smoother. I just wanted to say what an amazing testimony your blog is - your faith is an inspiration, and the many scriptures you refer to lift my heart.
Keep hanging in there - these children are amazing, and can achieve - with God's help - truly wonderful things. Stay strong, and never lose hope. I will continue to watch your postings and will be remembering you and your beautiful boy in prayer.
With love and support from across the Atlantic,
Alison xxx
http://charlieturner.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

We are praying for these new issues, that God will take care of it divinely, or through medicine.
Love,
Patty

Anonymous said...

Patience (and Jordan!) It was so wonderful to see you tonight and new pictures of beautiful Isaac. You guys are an amazing testimony of God's great love, power and mercy. Thanks for sharing Isaac with the rest of the world. Melanie (and Al)Tiner

Anonymous said...

Continuing to pray for Isaac and both of you, the dr's and the nurses, and ALL who are ministering care to little Isaac. What an awesome new room for Isaac. May his new surroundings bring new joy and hope to all of you.
Praying for accurate and good results from the testing.
Eph 3:20

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update! Still praying!

Unknown said...

Continuing to pray for sweet Isaac and the doctors & nurses. Isaac keeps jumping those hurdles and we will be here cheering him on. God has His hand on you son and has demonstrated His abundant love for him thru each miracle. We are standing beside you waiting for the results and your next blog. Love to you both and sweet kisses to Isaac, Lynn & Ronnie

Anonymous said...

I am so thankful that we can be part of this journey with all of you... emotionally and spiritually. I know I speak for all when I express appreciation at your faithfulness in keeping us informed on Isaac's progress.

He is so beautiful!

I am praying with you.

In God's love,
Christine
CBN Graphics Production

Anonymous said...

I beleive God sees all and knows all.God knows Isaacs end from his beginning and there His plan shall be fulfilled through Isaac ,no matter what.Remain encouraged knowing that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.We as the body of Christ are standing with you in this ,praying and believeing for total reocvery-in JESUS name.
Your sister in Christ

Anonymous said...

We are continuing our prayers for Baby Isaac. He is so precious, I fell in love with this little boy! He is a strong little man and he will continue to do good. He has a lot of people praying for him and God does hear all of them. Courtney, Joe & Makayla

Anonymous said...

I choose to believe! Issac is a survivor! I will praise Him for every up and every down, every bump in the road and obstacle thrown in the path...It's all about HIM!!

Anonymous said...

Patience, it was so great to see you and Jordan at C3 last night. What a blessing you both are to our church. I feel like you both are my children and that Issac is my grandson just through your blog and being a member of C3.Issac has blessed so many people in the little time that he has been here! Just think what blessings are yet to come. I pray everyday for all three of you. Thankyou so much for keeping up the blog and letting us share in this journey with your family. We love you!! Patty Davis