Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Update on David - Wednesday Afternoon

We finally have a little more information. The cardiologists came by about 3:00 today. They say that looking at the echo-cardiogram David's heart function has declined significantly. They think that we need to keep a better eye on him (or in other words he needs to be seen by the cardiologists more often). They want to do a cardiac catheterization sometime soon and are going to try to schedule it while we are here. They are still thinking about a pace maker the cath will help them decide if that is needed. Because of the decline in his heart function they need to start to preserve his heart, which means medications called ace-inhibitors. These medications take pressure off of his heart and help his heart muscle not work as hard.

As soon as the cardiologists left, the neurologists came by. They say that we have to assume that what happened was a seizure although it may not have been. Since he hasn't had a seizure in 8 years, it's likely that it could never happen again, or it might just happen about every 10 years. Their recommendation is that we take a conservative approach and not use medication to stop seizures. There has been no change in strength in either side of his body, or brain function, which is a good sign. Right now they are doing and EEG test, and assuming everything looks good this is the approach they will take.

They also have a theory about the blood that he threw up. They looked at the laceration on his tongue and said that it was a pretty bad one. Hey think that when he had the "seizure" his tongue bled A LOT!!! He swallowed the blood, which irritated his stomach and caused him to throw up. Everybody seems to think that we shouldn't worry about that issue anymore. What a relief! One less problem to work out.

Everybody is asking what they can do to help. Please pray for us. Pray for the kids that they will handle being away from us well, and pray for David that he will heal soon. Also pray for the Doctors that they will know what to do and how to help David.

David fixed my mom's computer so that we have the internet in his room. This has improved his mood quite a bit. If his tongue didn't hurt so bad he'd probably feel like he did before all this happened.

6 comments:

White Family said...

Hi David and Laura,

Thanks for the update. We've been worried. Did the doctors, by chance, check David's blood sugar? The fighting back with EMTs sure sounds like a low blood sugar reaction to us diabetics down here in Salem. Just a thought! You're all in our hearts and prayers. Let me know if there's anything else I can do. I am home and not working now. I can be up there in an hour's notice. I'm up to helping out with kids or whatever.

Love,
Aunt Sharon

Kirsten said...

I am so glad that they are able to give you some awnswers and I hope that this will begin the process of getting David back up and around. Of course we will keep you all in our prayers. Sending lots of love. Thank you for the update.

Joe and Debbie said...

Our thoughts & prayers are definitely with you and your family. Your blog is a fantastic way to keep everyone updated and is greatly appreciated. Tell Davie we love him. We know that if anyone can beat this it's David, as he has always been the miracle child. Let me know if there is anythign I can do to help. I know Kathi is doing the right thing by keeping the kids all together to give them a sense of stability through all of this. We pray David will have a quite recovery.

We love you all,
Aunt Debbie & Uncle Joe

Travis said...

I'm so glad things are looking a little better now (as far as answers go). We've been praying all day for the doctors to do the right tests and be lead to the right answers! I sure hope things continue to get better. We love you all and are praying for a quick recovery David!

Love, Annaka

Kristen Moss said...

I am so glad that things are calming down and that you are starting to get some answers. we really hope that you are doing well. we are still thinking of you. keep the updates coming, we love reading to see how you and david are doing.

kristen and Jared.

Sisters: Chunky to Skinny said...

Glad to hear things seem to be moving in the right direction. You guys are in our thoughts and prayers.