June 30, 2017 12:50 pm

The angiogram this morning revealed some vasospasms in Josh's brain, which cause constriction of the arteries and restriction of blood flow. Reduced blood flow can cause further brain damage and can also lead to blood clots. The doctors are now treating this condition with medication that expands the arteries. They have also decided to allow Josh's blood pressure to rise more than normal, as the pressure can also increase blood flow. While this is a serious medical issue that requires immediate attention, the doctors do not think it will have any further negative impact on Josh's brain function, which is good news. They are doing the tracheostomy and PEG tube procedures now.

Comments

  1. EmilyJune 30, 2017 at 9:46 PM

    Praying constantly. Thank you for the updates. Love you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
February 19, 2018 The good news is that the young man continues to make progress. With the consent of his doctor, we started to reduce the amount of Keppra (antiseizure medice) Josh takes, and we've noticed that it makes a difference in his "alertness" and "connectedness." Shortly after the accident, Josh's doctors put him on mega doses of two antiseizure medication. Seizures are a significant concern for TBI victims and Josh had many during his first week (petit mal, not grand mal). The medications seem to have done the trick, but the new doctors we visited when we got back to Portland in October were quite surprised at the size of the doses he was taking every day. At Mary's suggestion, they agreed to slowly reduce the amount of Keppra he takes. We've been watching closely to see if there have been any negative consequences, i.e., seizures, but we haven't noticed anything at all and so the weaning process continues. With less of this medicati
Read more
Image
July 12, 2017  8:31 PM Oops, he did it again. Josh decannulated himself last night (that means he pulled his trach out ... again). When the nurse asked if he needed pain medication, he said, "It's fine."  (Josh 2.0's first words: "It's fine." So fitting; so Josh.) He was breathing great without the trach so I was hoping they would leave it out, but they inserted a new trach, which they completely occluded. So, basically, it's like he doesn't have a trach in. The plan is to remove the trach completely tomorrow. (If you are confused about why they replaced the trach with an occluded trach that they plan to remove tomorrow, join the club.) Unlike yesterday, Josh spent most of the day awake ... and bored. Very bored. Josh did a great job of walking today. He walked a long distance: 500-600 feet. He had to rest about 2/3 of the way through. For his work friends: he has that same toe-walking swagger he used to have. Later in the afternoon the O
Read more
Image
August 14, 2017 10:05 pm The day did not begin well at Swedish. When Mary arrived at 7:30 in the morning, Josh was covered in feces. She asked some nurses to help her fix the problem, but they didn't come to help. So after about 10 minutes she went to the nurse's station and announced, "I am giving my son a shower. It violates your rules at this hospital, but I'm going to do it anyway. If you want to send a nurse to help me, you can do that." Then she walked back to the room and gave Josh a shower. A nurse did show up not too far into the process. After the shower, Mary dressed Josh in regular street clothes. No more Seymour Hiney gowns! Getting out of Swedish Hospital on time was a bit of a challenge since the doctor forgot to complete the paperwork before he left, but we got to Craig just before Josh's first class at 9:00. And it was FANTASTIC! I mean, most 7-year olds could out-perform him, but he did great! When the OT saw Josh last, she asked him
Read more