Brady’s Prognosis

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Finally, Brady was discharged yesterday, Feb. 5. We are so happy to be home. Brady was admitted to Blair E. Batson a week ago. He was admitted due to "Failure to Thrive". With this in mind the doctors had to find out why. So he had so many test run. He has an MRI (which he had to be sedated for), an EEG, an EKG, full body x-rays, chest x-rays, Ekogardiogram (sp?), a test to measure his brain activity (forgot the name), a vision test, and a LOT of blood work. During the MRI the neurologist found a cyst on Brady's brain but said that it "should not" hinder his health. Only time will tell. Brady was seen by so many types of doctors. While examining Brady a few doctors saw that he was "behind" on his motor skills. So Brady was referred to a Genetics doctor. These were his (Genetics doctor) exact words to me "I believe I know what is wrong with him (learning), however what I believe it to be is something no parents ever wants to hear. I will wait for the test results to come back before I elaborate." So now we sit and wait for 3-4 weeks to know the results. He (the genetics doctor) also found in his exam that Brady "may" be deaf. Brady will have an ABR test (electrodes measure the hearing nerve's response to the sounds) to see if Brady has any hearing loss and if so to what degree. The MD said that the hearing loss they believe him to have is permanent and is due to nerve damage to the auditory nerve. This is a type of hearing impairment that requires hearing aids.

Brady was also put on an NG tube (feeding tube) due to his FTT. Brady still takes his bottles by mouth during the day but is placed on the tube at night. His ped said that the NG tube is likely to stay in for 1-2 months, at least until Brady catches up on his weight. When we were admitted Brady weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was losing weight. When we left yesterday (4 nights on the NG tube) he weighed 10 lbs 12 oz. He gained more weight in the past 5 days than he has since he was born 12 weeks ago.

So for now his health prognosis looks great. He is gaining the weight and that is the best we could ask for. As for his "learning abilities" and "hearing" we sit and wait for the test and results.

BTW, the Cystic Fibrosis test was negative.