Latest on Ethan....

Sean and Ashli visited with the neurologist tonight. He says that they have found several locations in the brain where there has been bleeding. They are as follows:

1. Both the Left and Right ventricles (brain, not heart)
2. Both the Left and Right occipital lobes
3. Slight bleeding in the Right temporal lobe
   

I'll explain the concerns for each of these locations and the course of action the Dr. has laid out.

1. The bleeding in the ventricles is likely the source of the blood found in the spinal fluid earlier and not introduced by the needle as we had hoped. The concern with the ventricles now is that they may begin to fill with fluid and put outward pressure on the brain. This is something that would take place slowly and they will be able to monitor by taking periodic measurements of Ethan's head and by doing periodic sonograms of the brain. If this becomes a problem a shunt will likely be added to drain the excess fluid.
2. The bleeding in the occipital lobes could cause some impairment of vision. There was more bleeding in the Left lobe which means that any impairment would be more likely in the Right eye. The doctor says that the amount of bleeding would likely only cause a slight impairment of vision. The only course of action at this juncture is to monitor Ethan to see if he begins to favor his Left eye (indicating more vision there).
   
3. The bleeding in the temporal lobe was slight and the Dr. believes that there will be no impairment as a result. If there were to be problems the location of the bleed would indicate a problem with motor skills on the left side and a potential for Cerebral Palsy. At this point the only course of action is to monitor for motor dysfunction.
   

Ethan's platelet count has been dropping, rather than rising as most newborns' do. This may be the possible cause of the bleeding (his lowest measured count was 51 and counts below 50 are often associated with spontaneous bleeding) or it could simply be the result of his platelets being used up controlling the bleeding faster than his body can produce them. He has had two infusions of platelets since he was born last Wednesday.

One other concern is Ethan's temperature rising. It had risen to 100.4 earlier. Ethan likes to be swaddled for comfort but they don't want him covered in order to dissipate heat. Right now they've opted to swaddle his arms but leave his torso exposed. They've also given him a suppository to reduce the temperature.

On the bright side, pretty much everything we'd been praying about before has been, for the most part, resolved: Ethan's blood sugar is now around 74; He's out of danger with regard to pulmonary hypertension; He continues to respond to the antibiotics treating the infection in the bloodstream; and the edema has gone away completely.

Now, if God has already done so much for this little guy, why should our faith falter with a new set of difficulties (which are not difficult at all to God)? Sean told me tonight that he has a peace about his son's condition. I too feel that Ethan is safely in the hands of our mighty God.

I know that Sean and Ashli appreciate your continued prayers. Sean says he will email me some more pictures later. When I get them I'll post some here.

********** Edit ************
I've changed the template for this page because the other one was turning my numbers and bullet points into floral bullets. Not bad in itself, but I thought it would be more easy to follow if you could match problem 1 with explanation 1..... I'm silly that way.