Concerns and Coming Home

Allie heard from one of JW's doctors today that they are preparing to send him home tomorrow.  His breathing is much better, having improved greatly over the past couple of days and he seems to be on his way to a full recovery from the pneumonia.  However, we did have a couple of concerns, which Allie expressed to the doctors recently.

Since his breathing and recovery wasn't happening as quickly as the doctors would have liked, they started looking into other possible causes for JW's condition.  One was they did another MRI of his head to ensure there were no changes in his brain that could be causing the changes in his respiration.  Good news...there were no negative changes!  So, some changes were made to his medication and those changes seem to have done some good.

However, there have been a couple of other concerns that have surfaced.  First, Allie found out that children exposed to chicken pox shortly before or after birth have a greater risk of CP (cerebral palsy).  One of our greatest worries, and that of JW's doctors, has been the possibility of him having CP.  Allie has discussed this with the doctors and again, we won't know anything further on this possibility for a while longer.  Another concern that surfaced in regard to JW's breathing issues has to do with the Botox treatment he received a while back.  Last year (Feb. 2008) the FDA issued a warning about using Botox to treat muscle spasms, etc. specifically in children with CP and/or respiratory issues.  In fact, Botox is NOT approved for use by the FDA in these situations.  Therefore, correct and safe dosages for such usage is not known or well understood and many times, patients are overdosed (many times more than an adult patient receives for the cosmetic version of this treatment).  This overdosing causes the toxin to spread to parts of the body beyond the injection site and leads to Botulism poisoning.  This, in turn, can lead to respiratory distress and in a few instance has led to worse.  Since JW's pneumonia and breathing issues began shortly after the Botox treatment on his arms and legs, we were initially concerned that it could be the cause.  However, the doctors do not believe it is related and that instead, he is just taking a little longer to recover from the pneumonia.

Since there are still so many "if's" for our little guy, we ask that you please be praying about the things mentioned in this post and his health, in general.  We trust the doctors and know that JW has been receiving excellent care, but you just never know...something could be missed or something could change or something new could come up.  Please remember him.  Pray also for safe travel for Mom and Allie as they head to SA tomorrow to, hopefully, bring JW home.  I will have the other two kiddos and Tristin is not feeling well, so you might just say a little prayer for her health and for the rest of us in preparation for JW's return home....there is always much to be done.  Our love to you all.  

Lindy