Baby Steps

Just a bit of an update! We have moved from the PICU into a regular room. Although it means he has improved, going from the one on one care to another fish in the sea has been a bit of a rough transition. I am that mom that is worrying and analyzing his condition and progress constantly. Although I'm sure most moms would be this way, I've been told by the doctors not to expect too much (which is exactly what I've been doing). Because his brain has been through major trauma, although their is no "brain damage", there is still a lot to be done as far as getting all of his functions back - if they come back.

Isaac is definitely taking steps forward. For example, his head is becoming much stronger and he's constantly trying to sit up. He also seems to be focusing more today and for longer periods - great steps! However he goes through these times when it seems like he's slipping away - not making eye contact, just kind of this blank slate and that has been nothing short of heartbreaking. The doctors reassure us this is normal when such trauma has happened to the brain and we have to set aside all recovery expectations. Easier said than done.

Meanwhile, Lyndon will have to go back to work sometime this week. He has been with his company under 90 days and has no PTO right now. It's really hard for him to think of leaving Isaac for so long every day but maybe it will be good to get his mind on something else for awhile. Who am I kidding? He's going to be miserable!!!

This has taken me forever to write. Every specialist in the world has been to see Isaac today. They are worried because he's not keeping any food (liquid through a tube in his nose) down, we've seen the neuro psych, a speech therapist and are waiting for the rehabilitation specialist. There is some talk that it could be possible they move us to another facility where he could be in an inpatient rehab program. Again, time will tell!

Update about the specialists! Before I published the post, the rehab specialist came. He said Isaac will probably be moving to an inpatient rehabilitation facility at Children's Hospital in Seattle next Monday. He will be back on Wednesday to reassess. He said patients like Isaac often benefits greatly from such care. Although Seattle is far from home and Sydney, we'll have to just figure it out! We will know more on Wednesday...

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. Our baby needs them!!

Sitting Up

Right now we are lucky to have an army of family helping us around the clock. My parents and brother have been staying in the room with us and we all have our shifts. Justin takes the late night shift and is usually relieved by my mom around 2am to 3am. Then I join her usually around 6am and everyone takes turns throughout the day. This morning when I joined my mom around 7am - she was helping Isaac to sit up in his bed. His head is still very wobbly but he was putting his elbows back every time we tried to lay him back down. It was amazing to see and his eyes seem to be focusing much better.

The road may be long and have a few bumps but we are moving forward.

Later today I should have my camera cords and will be able to upload some nice pictures of us holding Isaac and Sydney's reunion with her brother. She is very concerned now and wants to be with him constantly. Last night she sensed by sadness and said "It's OK mommy, the doctors are going to give Isaac some medicine and make it all better". If only.....

It's not all roses

Doesn't he look better???


This afternoon it seems really hard to focus on the joy we were experiencing yesterday. The doctors allowed us to relish in the news that Isaac's MRI showed that he has no brain damage. On Tuesday we were prepared for a severely brain damaged child, if he were to live through this. What an incredible journey.

Going forward, however, we've learned our boy's brain will be "on it" just as it was but as he slowly wakes from his induced coma, it appears there is some nerve damage.

What does this mean? Well, one of the critical areas impacted by one of Isaac's fractures was at the base of his neck behind his left ear. At first glance, the doctor believed that Isaac's hearing would be completely lost in that ear. Can totally live with that - my dad doesn't have hearing in his right ear. It's really no biggie. However as he wakes today, we're seeing that pretty much the entire left side of Isaac's face has been impacted - including the way his eye dilates and contracts. Again, I need to remind myself that just five days ago, we almost lost our precious little boy. . . .

We are trying to stay positive but I would be lying if I told you that I am a ball of glee today. Things will be different than they were and the doctor told us it could be months before we know exactly how he will be going forward. Please continue to remember Isaac and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Holla!!

NO BRAIN DAMAGE!!! A little blood on the brain...will reabsorb. In the process of waking him up. More to come...

Friday Morning

*******PLEASE BE WARNED AT THE END OF THIS NOTE I HAVE POSTED A PICTURE OF ISAAC FROM YESTERDAY.....IT IS DISTURBING********

Well Isaac hasn't quite woken up yet. Last night the determination was made by the doctors to sedate him enough to let him sleep peacefully through the night. Uncle Justin took the night shift under the assumption that Isaac would be sedated enough he would be konked out. Well, not so much. Our little guy is under 4 - 5 times the normal doses of pain and anxiety medication and is still fighting to move around. What a little fighter. This is a good sign the doctors say. Extremely severe brain injured children would not have to have much pain and anxiety medication.

This morning, they took the brain bolt out of his head. When he was admitted they had drilled a hole the size of a pinkie in his little noggin in order to monitor to measure the swelling of his brain. His levels have remained at a "normal" enough level that the doctor was ready to take it out. They took it out about 9:00 a.m. and he looks so much better with one less large tube coming out of him. The hole has been stapled and should be just one more little scar on his body.

Around noon they will be doing an MRI on him. They will have to give him a paralytic again so he does not move during this. The MRI results are critical. They are going to tell us what kind of damage has been done to his brain. The doctor has prepared us for the worse - which could be major brain damage and even a condition called Diffuse axonal injury which would mean he would remain in a coma for a long amount of time. The chance of this condition is about 10%. Please pray the lasting effects are minimal!!!

We have been amazed by the amount of love, support and prayers that Isaac and we have been receiving. We are SO thankful and feel so blessed to have our friends and family by our side.

The MRI procedure will take about two hours so we are planning on heading to our house to pack some more clothes and just see where things are down there. Some dear friends, Katie and Megan, went to our house and cleaned last night so we aren't worried about walking into a home that is the chaos I normally leave it in the morning. I am a bit worried about walking by Isaac's room, seeing his things, his cars, his airplanes, his trains...I pray I get my little boy back!!! That is the scariest part right now - not knowing if he will be the same - not knowing if we need to teach him to walk again, to talk again, etc. If he will still be excited about every airplane that flies overhead, if he will say thank you every time you do anything for him.....BUT we are so thankful he is ALIVE.

A Dose of Good News

Isaac has continued to stay pretty much the same overnight and into this morning. His levels are around a 10 and the doctors say that this is good. During the night there was a little bit of trauma when the x-ray technician accidentally knocked out the tube that was draining the air from his chest. How this happened, I don't quite understand. However luckily it ended up being OK. It is during this type of stimulation that his ICP levels will sometimes raise. The doctor said that if his levels (when they spike) stay under 20, he is happy.

So that being said, the doctor feels that Isaac is ready to start waking up. As I understand it, they will start to take his body out of it's paralyzed state and then will begin to lighten the medicines keeping him in the coma (he will still have lots of pain meds) and ultimately transition him to start breathing on his own. I am excited and nervous. During this process, if he spikes above a 20, they go back to putting him fully in a coma and paralyzed again. They definitely expect that his levels will go up and he will be moving around quite a lot. We will all be around him trying to calm him and encourage him to rest and stay still but this boy is strong and feisty!

Please pray that Isaac's ICP stays under 20 and that the transition to breathing on his own goes smoothly. This battle is still going on and as the doctor said, we still are unsure what lasting effects there could be. I have been encouraged by countless stories of similar accidents that have happy endings and am praying our story will be the same.

Even at the rate we are going, the doctors predict that Isaac will be hospitalized for at least three weeks. So many have offered to help with Sydney it is awesome. She is still pretty clueless to what has gone on and is having so much fun with sleeping over at her friends house, going to Chuck E Cheese and such I'm starting to fear she's going to be a little sad to leave! Our friends Brooke and Brian LaFave have been her second parents through this. We are so thankful to have such selfless friends that love our children as they do their own.

I will keep you posted.....

Roller Coaster

Today has absolutely been a roller coaster. Earlier, we learned that Isaac has almost certainly lost his hearing in his left ear. It appears upon second look at his CT that the nerve has been ruptured by one of the fractures.

His numbers were high this morning, too high for me to be comfortable. Then early this afternoon, his numbers went down to 0 or 1 - awesome! However now it's hovering at around an 8. Occasionally the medicine wears off and he starts grabbing for the tubes. We are encouraged at his fighting spirit!

Please continue to pray that his swelling goes down, lift up the doctors that are working on him and pray the damage done is minimal.

I will try to contine to update. I am pretty much staying at his bedside and looking at the numbers fluctuate can be maddening. We SO appreciate all the love, prayers, positive energy and concern.