Todd Woodall
New member
Hello everyone,
I was going to post this in the other thread, but didnt want it to be overlooked, and I know you guys want to know whats going on.
We went up to the hospital today to visit with Byron, Lana, and the family. Upon leaving Byron asked me to update everyone on Reagans condition.
To Give you a little background on the situation, I will start of with the onset of the problem. Reagan has had 2 seizures in the past, both associated with having the flu. The last event was much like the one they are facing now, however after 4 days Reagan woke up with no recollection of the events and ready to go home. Drs. were really unsure of the cause of events then, but narrowed it down to an infection in Reagans brain, brought on by the flu. Reagan has been as healthy as a horse since, but recently came down with a bug, which turned out once again to be the flu.
Byron and Lana were unable to wake Reagan yesterday. She was able to talk, answer math questions, and such, however could not open her eyes. She would tell them she is trying, but they just wouldnt work. By the time they arrived at a local ER Reagans was unresponsive to Verbal, or Painful stimuli. The hospital did a spinal Tap, A CT, and blood work. Standard tests for the symptoms Reagan had. With Reagan being unresponsive she couldnt give any feedback to what might be causing the problems. There can be thousands of medical conditions that will present with the same type symptoms, so the process can be very slow in determining the exact nature of her problem. It was pretty obvious that it was a neurological problem, but none of the test presented a red flag if you will, for the Drs to treat. Realizing this is probably a little more than they could handle they flew Reagan to Childrens hospital in Dallas(which is one of the best in the country). At that time Reagan was intubated(breathing tube) and place on a ventilator to control her airway during the flight.
At Childrens they had seen no change in her condition through the night. This morning Reagan had an MRI, which they had not found out the results from yet. Reagan had however become responsive to Painful stimuli in all extremeties, and possibly some reaction to verbal stimuli with the family, but not by nursing staff. This is a very positive sign, and a marked improvement in Reagans condition. Just as I got to the hospital the Dr. arrived to give the family a much needed update. Without going into great detail, I will give the bare bones report from the Dr.
The MRI shows swelling in Reagans brain. Not fluid, but rather a swelling of the actual cells causing increased pressure. Fluid can be drained or treated through various medications, but swelling is likely an infection that must be treated with antibiotics. They have Reagan on 2 different types of antibiotics, however there has not been enough time to show any positive affects. They originally ruled out one type of infection and did not give a medicine that must be given within the first 48 hours of onset. They are now thinking that type of infection may indeed be the cause, however the 48 hr window is now closed. They administered the medication anyway, as it will have no ill effects after 48 hours, it just may not work as well. They should know more about how the medications have worked in the morning. They are also still awaiting the results from lab cultures done with Reagans Spinal fluid. Depending on the results of the various tests it may narrow down the type of infection and lead to a more specific treatment. They are still not sure what is causing the swelling and have teams of Drs. from all over reviewing the case to try and find the cause. Reagans vitals are all normal, except for a slightly elevated heart rate. This can be caused by simply agitation, as she is moving around quite a bit, or the infection. As of now there is no cause for concern with her vitals, but if her blood pressure rises and her heart rate falls they will have to take more extreme measures to releave the pressure on the brain. They are working to reduce the swelling before it gets to that point. The Drs. are also very concearned in finding the origin of the problem to prevent it from happening again. They are doing all the can to figure everything out, but it can be a painfully slow process sometimes.
Byron, Lana, and the whole family are in good spirits and like all of us are hoping Reagan will wake up in the morning like nothing ever happened. I pray she will!!I will give you guys updates as they come. The South family is not out of the woods yet, and made sure I told yall to keep the prayers coming, they are working!!!!
Todd
I was going to post this in the other thread, but didnt want it to be overlooked, and I know you guys want to know whats going on.
We went up to the hospital today to visit with Byron, Lana, and the family. Upon leaving Byron asked me to update everyone on Reagans condition.
To Give you a little background on the situation, I will start of with the onset of the problem. Reagan has had 2 seizures in the past, both associated with having the flu. The last event was much like the one they are facing now, however after 4 days Reagan woke up with no recollection of the events and ready to go home. Drs. were really unsure of the cause of events then, but narrowed it down to an infection in Reagans brain, brought on by the flu. Reagan has been as healthy as a horse since, but recently came down with a bug, which turned out once again to be the flu.
Byron and Lana were unable to wake Reagan yesterday. She was able to talk, answer math questions, and such, however could not open her eyes. She would tell them she is trying, but they just wouldnt work. By the time they arrived at a local ER Reagans was unresponsive to Verbal, or Painful stimuli. The hospital did a spinal Tap, A CT, and blood work. Standard tests for the symptoms Reagan had. With Reagan being unresponsive she couldnt give any feedback to what might be causing the problems. There can be thousands of medical conditions that will present with the same type symptoms, so the process can be very slow in determining the exact nature of her problem. It was pretty obvious that it was a neurological problem, but none of the test presented a red flag if you will, for the Drs to treat. Realizing this is probably a little more than they could handle they flew Reagan to Childrens hospital in Dallas(which is one of the best in the country). At that time Reagan was intubated(breathing tube) and place on a ventilator to control her airway during the flight.
At Childrens they had seen no change in her condition through the night. This morning Reagan had an MRI, which they had not found out the results from yet. Reagan had however become responsive to Painful stimuli in all extremeties, and possibly some reaction to verbal stimuli with the family, but not by nursing staff. This is a very positive sign, and a marked improvement in Reagans condition. Just as I got to the hospital the Dr. arrived to give the family a much needed update. Without going into great detail, I will give the bare bones report from the Dr.
The MRI shows swelling in Reagans brain. Not fluid, but rather a swelling of the actual cells causing increased pressure. Fluid can be drained or treated through various medications, but swelling is likely an infection that must be treated with antibiotics. They have Reagan on 2 different types of antibiotics, however there has not been enough time to show any positive affects. They originally ruled out one type of infection and did not give a medicine that must be given within the first 48 hours of onset. They are now thinking that type of infection may indeed be the cause, however the 48 hr window is now closed. They administered the medication anyway, as it will have no ill effects after 48 hours, it just may not work as well. They should know more about how the medications have worked in the morning. They are also still awaiting the results from lab cultures done with Reagans Spinal fluid. Depending on the results of the various tests it may narrow down the type of infection and lead to a more specific treatment. They are still not sure what is causing the swelling and have teams of Drs. from all over reviewing the case to try and find the cause. Reagans vitals are all normal, except for a slightly elevated heart rate. This can be caused by simply agitation, as she is moving around quite a bit, or the infection. As of now there is no cause for concern with her vitals, but if her blood pressure rises and her heart rate falls they will have to take more extreme measures to releave the pressure on the brain. They are working to reduce the swelling before it gets to that point. The Drs. are also very concearned in finding the origin of the problem to prevent it from happening again. They are doing all the can to figure everything out, but it can be a painfully slow process sometimes.
Byron, Lana, and the whole family are in good spirits and like all of us are hoping Reagan will wake up in the morning like nothing ever happened. I pray she will!!I will give you guys updates as they come. The South family is not out of the woods yet, and made sure I told yall to keep the prayers coming, they are working!!!!
Todd
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