MRI Results

This morning I talked to the neurologist about Lynnea's MRI results. The MRI showed that there was brain damage, and that it is global -- both sides of her brain were damaged. He said that it is impossible to really predict exactly how much she can recover from this, but he explained that the parts that were damaged effect her motor control, so she will most likely have difficulty moving her limbs, and there could be some loss of cognitive abilities as well, especially language. He pointed out that, since she was already a bit developmentally delayed coming into this cardiac arrest event, this will definitely set her even further behind, assuming that she is able to recover much at all. He also said that the part of her brain that controls her ability to breathe on her own was not effected, so there is no reason, from a neurological standpoint at least, that she would not come off the ventilator at some point (obviously her respiratory issues might make it challenging, but that's a separate issue).

As far as a treatment plan for today goes, today they were able to start weaning her ventilator settings so that eventually they can try to extubate her (there's no huge rush for this, so they are not being overly aggressive with the wean), and they started her on a new med, Neurontin. Overall, she had a stable day. Her kidneys and liver have recovered nicely from the cardiac arrest and they both seem to be working fine now.

Obviously, the MRI results were very discouraging, and not at all the news that we wanted to hear. For now, we will keep praying that she recovers as much of her neurological function as she can.