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.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Thursday Pm
Rebecca is doing better today. (Yesterday was very rough on them all). Please continue to pray for Rebecca, Ryan and Susan as they are in Dallas. They hope to come home this weekend. Pray for Katherine and Elizabeth also as they are here with their Grandparents, the Lockharts.
-km
-km
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Rebecca Update: Wednesday 3 pm
Dear Friends,
After a few weeks of calm, Rebecca started having seizures last Wednesday. This concerned us because she is on strong medicine and should not be seizing or having spasms.So we decided to go back to Dallas to have her medicine changed. The seizures became worse in frequency and duration, so the doctors decided to run an EEG.
Rebecca's EEG was not good. In fact, the doctor told us that the test results could not be worse. She is having what seems to be constant seizures and spasms. The neurological team has changed her medicine and she is now on several different kinds of seizure medicines and we will have an MRI tomorrow and another EEG near weeks end. A feeding tube has been placed in her nose, so that she can continue to get nourishment. The medicine has sedated her and she cannot suckle a bottle.
Susan has remained very strong through all of this, she is a true woman of God, and God has kept us close to Him during the last few weeks. We can feel all the prayers for our peace of mind and wisdom in making decisions.
Please continue to pray that Rebecca will not suffer and the wonderful doctors at Children's Medical Center will continue to meet her physical and our spiritual needs. Also, I ask that you specifically pray for Susan's mom and dad, Al and Marcia Lockhart, has they have really been a blessing in caring for, loving and nurturing Rebecca on a daily basis. Pray a special covering of the Holy Spirit over them.
Also, when we left Monday morning, we thought this would be a quick trip to Dallas for a medicine change, we are not prepared for the news that we received. So please pray for Katherine and Elizabeth as they go through this tough time with their sisters illness. Pray that this experience will draw them closer to God.
Once again, thanks to all of you for your prayers and kind words.
Ryan E. Gatti
Please Continue To Pray
Ryan and Susan are in Dallas with Rebecca. The EEG results were not what they were hoping. Please pray for Rebecca and the Gatti Family...
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
Prayer Request
To all of you prayer warriors out there - Please keep Rebecca and her sisters in your prayers. Over the last 2 weeks Rebecca has had "tremors" for lack of a better word. They became troublesome by increasing in frequency and severity last Thursday. They make her very upset, tense, and uncomfortable. We have tried to adjust her medication to control them unsuccessfully. So - we are back to Dallas tomorrow whether they want us or not. We need to make sure that these are not seizures that she is continuing to experience. Please pray for her healing, for the physician's wisdom, and for her sisters as they go without their mom, dad, and baby sister once again.
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