Recap of Events...

Several of you have asked for an update on Ty's medical situation and/or learned about his problems later. Here is a summary of everything without my usual extra commentary.

Thurs 3/1 - Ty is born at 4:26 AM. I had a natural and smooth birth (but long) without any problems. But, because he is 41 weeks, he takes in a lot of meconium which affects his breathing immediately after birth. Right after birth, he has trouble breathings, so they take him to the NICU for observation. The doctors think he might have an in infection.

At about 12 hours after birth, Ty had his first small seizure. When the nurses noticed this, the doctors arranged for Ty to be transported from the Level 2 NICU hosptial we were in to a Level 3 NICU where he can recieve more critical care. I get myself discharged and packed in about 20 minutes so I can ride in the ambulance with Ty.

Fri 3/2 - By Friday night, Ty has had a series of tests: CT scans to look for superficial brain injury, possibly from the birth process, a Spinal Tap to test for meningitus, and an MRI to look for other possible causes for the seizures.

Late Friday night - we learn that Ty had a stroke. Based on the type of "scan", they know the stroke occurred within 3 hours to 7 days of the MRI. He most probably had it right before or right after birth. The stroke caused a small amount of damage to his left middle cortex. It appears to be right above the area that controls motor skills.

Sat 3/3 - We meet with the neurologist who shows us the 54 slides of MRI's (pictures of Ty's brain) in rapid fire pace. The doctor says he has no reason to be concerned about his overall health, but tells us that Ty may have problems with the right side of his body. However, given infants' neural plasticity, Ty may actually have no problems at all or may have problems with motor, cognitive or speech development. But, we will not know anything long term until he "moves" through each major developmental milestone. Many infants that have strokes may never show any symptoms because the brain learns to use other parts of the brain or may actually "skip" over the damaged parts.

Needless to say, Tim and I were shell shocked at this point.

Sun 3/4-Mon 3/5 - Ty is removed from antibiotics because they have ruled out any infection. Ty's seizures are also under control by this point.

Tues/Wed - They stop giving Ty the heavily sedating anti-seizure medication and keep him on the one other, but milder anti-seizure medication.

Thurs-Sat - Ty's sedation level continues to drop, so we are able to feed him and he becomes more "awake". However, his breathing is still shallow, so they keep him on a little bit of oxygen. They think he just needs more time to breathe deeply after dealing with the sedation.

Throughout the week - they do more tests to monitor his brain activity and monitor any new damage. Also, they do tests on his heart to see if he is at risk for more strokes.

Tuesday, 3/13 - We get to take Ty home!

Many of you have asked why infants have strokes. They think that infant stroke is greatly under diagnosed. As many as 1 in 4000 infants suffer from a stroke. We only happened to learn about Ty's stroke so early because he exhibited the seizures. The seizures were caused by the stroke affecting a very specific part of the brain.
Well, there appears to be a few different leading causes:

1- Some congenital problem - maybe problems to the heart which may cause clots which increase the risk of strokes.
2 - Infections - can increase the risk of clotting, which increase the risk of strokes.
3 - Genetic risk of clotting - this is more rare, but we've all been tested and none of us (Ty, Tim or I) have any underlying genetic risks.
4 - Environmental risks introduced in pregnancy - if I had done cocaine or other stimulants that affect the central nervous system in pregnancy. (No, I did not do any drugs before or during pregnancy).
5 - Random - Apparently, there is a theory that the risk of stroke increases exponentially in the mother and infant the week before and the week after birth. This may be due to additional clotting that takes place to prepare for birth in the mom and babies' bodies. (I actually learned about a mom who had a stroke during birth recently...so, the risk is increased for the mother, also). Right now, Ty's stroke is looking like it had a random cause like this.

What is next? Well, Ty takes medicine daily to prevent the strokes. The doctors will probably discontinue the medicine around 5-6 months of age. Apparently, he may not need the drugs after that. However, there is a chance he may have a few seizures as he comes off of the drugs. But, it is all an experiment. And, we simply wait and see. But, in the meantime, he is a funny and cute and normally developing little boy.

Update: Ty was taken off of his antiseizure medications at 4 months and he's had no problems since. The neurologist says that the clinical evidence shows that his stroke makes him no more for risk of another stroke or seizure than any other child now. Great news.

I'll get back to my light fun in the next update...we hope to have fun pictures after this weekend of no work!