Both boys got a nasty virus right after Halloween, little sleep was had, many tears were shed. Cameron is a trooper when it comes to medical stuff so we knew he must be really sick to be crying everytime he coughed. I have slept every night with him since Sunday to keep his temp in check, and ease the pain.
A pediatrcian visit on Tuesday of last week ended with a potential diagnosis of H1N1, maybe Croup for Connor. I learned alot at this visit:
* Dr's are not eagerly testing for H1N1 anymore, many insurances have stopped paying for the actual H1N1 test that costs $600, for the most part if you have flu symptoms chances are it's H1N1, as it's too early for seasonal flu.
*Over 30,000 people die every year from the seasonal flu, Swine Flu is nowhere near this number
*Croup is not nearly as serious for children over the age of 2, so while Cameron was definitely worse off it seemed, Connor was the one in more 'danger'.
He proved that to us overnight Wednesday, he was breathing so loud I seriously got out of bed at one point because I thought someone was talking somewhere?? In the morning he was having some stridor (breathing issues), drooling, with a terrible barking cough. After a discussion with the Pediatrician he sent us to Children's to get him some steroids.
That was fun, all I can say is avoid that place unless it is a serious emergency! Connor got his steroids and we got the hell out of there in less than 4 hours, and considering the ER line that was good.
Those steroids did the trick he was back to Bam Bam status within 8 hours! amazing.
By Friday both boys were still coughing a lot, but playing so that is good. Fevers are finally gone, after 6 days of regular rectal temps I am very happy with this development.
So the "Powder Keg", this is going to go down as one of those things someone in the medical field tells me that I will never forget. The saving grace for this particular Dr., he's amazing with Cameron, very informative with Matt and I and always answers ALL of our questions.
With that disclaimer, he did refer to Cameron's brain as a Powder Keg! Many have asked what is a "Powder Keg" - something in a potentially explosive state. Definitely not a term you'd like used to describe your child's brain.
The last time this Dr. saw Cameron was at 9 months of age (he's the Dandy Walker guy), he reviewed the most recent MRI from March 2009. He saw a few things that stood out to him, I will spare the nitty gritty details.
In short there is some narrowing in the spinal canal, and this could pose a problem and may be an explanation for the problems Cameron was having earlier this year with his gait pattern etc. The cerebellum is wrapping around his brain stem, which is not normal, but might not be an issue? It's all very speculative. Bottom line we are to watch him like a hawk and report any sudden changes in behavior, walking, stability to our team.
The Dr. talked about a potential surgery called a Posterior Fossa Decompression, let me tell you this, Cameron will not be having this unless there is a MAJOR problem.
Most curious is that our current Nuerosurgeon made no mention of any this after the MRI in March, which leads me to believe this might be nothing to worry about. But it certainly has our anxious for our January appt with the team. We'll see.
Tell me if you see a Powder Keg in this image ?
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