Monday, October 8, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Dallas News
I apologize for not having posted sooner. Things get hectic when you are unexpectedly gone for a week and illness strikes upon your return. The Gatti girls are temporarily camped out at their grandparents' house, not due to their illness, but to their daddy's illness. Ryan has been struck with an awful bug that the rest of us are trying to avoid while giving him some much needed rest.
We returned home on Sunday from Dallas. I will do my best to inform you from the technical to the layman's lingo. Official terminology on the discharge papers is as follows: severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy with secondary infantile spasms, hypsarhythmia with intractable seizures, and severe developmental delay. Translation - before and after her birth Rebecca suffered from a lack of oxygen to her brain for an extended period of time. This resulted in a significant injury to her brain, which has resulted in a loss of structure to her brain overall and in critical areas, as well as a lack of appropriate brain growth. Her brain also has not developed much, if any, myelin sheath, which typically occurs by 6 months of age. This is what allows the electronic impulses to travel and allow the brain to communicate effectively with the rest of the body. Rebecca is now over 5 months old. This has resulted in a disorganized pattern of electronic impulses in her brain and the development of infantile spasms. This makes it difficult to differentiate what is seizures and what is involuntary muscle movement. In the neurologist's words - "The EEG could not look any worse." The pattern is typically associated with profound delays, which is what they predict for Rebecca. In their words, she may never sit up or crawl or do many basic things. Also, her seizure activity is likely to continue, and the medical professionals hope only to be able to make the level of activity to make it manageable for Rebecca. The delays are already evident. At one point, she was looking at us and tracking, but even these basic skills are no longer present. She is currently functioning as a baby of less than 1 month of age. However, the neurologists were surprised at the amount of brain matter left given her history, and she has done things that are unexpected. She has gained weight and tolerated feedings well.
To dismiss rumors - she is not in danger of dying. At one point in the hospital her seizures were severe and not stopping in spite of medication. During this time she received a great deal of medication that placed her at-risk to stop breathing as they loaded her and rescued her with several medications. This risk has passed.
The good news - Rebecca remains in God's hands. Only He knows what He has planned for her life. Someone who loves Rebecca very much reminded the doctors (who were telling us that everything happens for a reason) that everyone has two main purposes in life: to love/serve God and to take as many people with you to heaven as possible. Rebecca is already fulfilling her purpose. If she or her sisters have touched your life in a special way, please leave a comment that I can share with them to help them gain a more complete understanding of the true purpose of living. If you do not want me to post it, then I will keep it personal and strictly for the girls eyes upon request. Thank you for your continued prayer and support.
We returned home on Sunday from Dallas. I will do my best to inform you from the technical to the layman's lingo. Official terminology on the discharge papers is as follows: severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy with secondary infantile spasms, hypsarhythmia with intractable seizures, and severe developmental delay. Translation - before and after her birth Rebecca suffered from a lack of oxygen to her brain for an extended period of time. This resulted in a significant injury to her brain, which has resulted in a loss of structure to her brain overall and in critical areas, as well as a lack of appropriate brain growth. Her brain also has not developed much, if any, myelin sheath, which typically occurs by 6 months of age. This is what allows the electronic impulses to travel and allow the brain to communicate effectively with the rest of the body. Rebecca is now over 5 months old. This has resulted in a disorganized pattern of electronic impulses in her brain and the development of infantile spasms. This makes it difficult to differentiate what is seizures and what is involuntary muscle movement. In the neurologist's words - "The EEG could not look any worse." The pattern is typically associated with profound delays, which is what they predict for Rebecca. In their words, she may never sit up or crawl or do many basic things. Also, her seizure activity is likely to continue, and the medical professionals hope only to be able to make the level of activity to make it manageable for Rebecca. The delays are already evident. At one point, she was looking at us and tracking, but even these basic skills are no longer present. She is currently functioning as a baby of less than 1 month of age. However, the neurologists were surprised at the amount of brain matter left given her history, and she has done things that are unexpected. She has gained weight and tolerated feedings well.
To dismiss rumors - she is not in danger of dying. At one point in the hospital her seizures were severe and not stopping in spite of medication. During this time she received a great deal of medication that placed her at-risk to stop breathing as they loaded her and rescued her with several medications. This risk has passed.
The good news - Rebecca remains in God's hands. Only He knows what He has planned for her life. Someone who loves Rebecca very much reminded the doctors (who were telling us that everything happens for a reason) that everyone has two main purposes in life: to love/serve God and to take as many people with you to heaven as possible. Rebecca is already fulfilling her purpose. If she or her sisters have touched your life in a special way, please leave a comment that I can share with them to help them gain a more complete understanding of the true purpose of living. If you do not want me to post it, then I will keep it personal and strictly for the girls eyes upon request. Thank you for your continued prayer and support.
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