Well, a lot has happened to little Atticus since the last post. I'll try to give you a brief summary of everything that has been going on in the past few days. After my last post, the doctors informed me that they had found blood on Atticus' brain. It is on the back right side of his brain, and the spot is about 4 cm. They informed us that the effects of this can be from as minor as nothing, to as severe as seizures, cerebal palsy, mental and physical developmental problems, to death if the bleeding didn't stop. The next day, on Monday, Atticus began to have seizures. They were extremely frequent, although not full body convulsions. His hands or feet or head would just twitch for a few minutes, and then stop. This was very difficult to watch my son suffering in this manner. But I tried to remember that God still has a plan for Atticus, and He was still in control. His right leg also turned a dark purple, as a result of the Cath procedure, and swelled to the limit. His liver and kidneys were responding very sluggishly due to all the different meds he has been on since birth, and a combination of all the abuse his body had undergone with all these various medical procedures. This was causing a problem with swelling in his body as well, because he wasn't able to get rid of the fluid that was building up in his body. It was also causing a problem to his platelet count, as the blood parts are made in the liver.
But as in all things, the Lord is always in control. The following day, Tuesday, God turned Atticus around. The doctors were able to get his seizures under control and he is now 72+ hours without a seizure. Also, the swelling in his right leg began to go down and they were finally able to find a pulse in the leg, indicating that blood circulation was returning to the leg. The swelling has continued to go down each day, and the color is slowly returning to that leg as well. His liver and kidney functions began to improve to the point that they were even able to start giving Atticus lipids again (for nutrition) and even start him on breast milk again. His urine output increased and the swelling in his body has gone down significantly. His platelets remain low, but they have begun to be able to go 36 hrs before having to give him more, whereas before he was having to get platelets every 24 hrs. And finally, all the stats/numbers for his heart are wonderful. His oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and heart rate are all right where they want them to be.
Atticus still has a long way to go to be completely healed and able to come home. The right leg, while color is returning and swelling is going down, has developed a number of large blisters all over it, due to the skin being stretched so tight for so long. Also, he has a very bad sore on his leg, near his groin where there was an IV line that was put in during the Cath procedure. They have been able to remove this line as of yesterday, but he has a lot of healing to happen as it is very rough looking. His kidneys are doing much better, but there are some numbers that are a little high that the doctors are still monitoring vey closely. As long as he continues to pee well, they say there is no major worry. However, if his urine output decreases, they say then they will begin to worry about these numbers as it means that something could still be wrong with the kidneys. Also, he still continues to heal from the heart surgery and all the wounds that are associated from that surgery. Please continue to remember Atticus in your prayers. He has already been through so much in the one month he's been alive. God has made him a fighter though, and he continues to make progress each day. Please also continue to pray for Robbie, myself, and the kids, as it seems that I will have to be here in Charleston much longer than we had hoped. Thank you all so much for everything you've done for us thus far. Thank you for all the prayers, the cards, the emails, the posts on Facebook, and everything else you've done. We are truly blessed. I hope that God will grant Atticus a speedy recovery so that I can return home. Thank you again, and please continue to pray for us.
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