3/14/2008 Family Meeting

As we knew, from yesterday, the results from the MRI were not what we were hoping for. The MRI showed that Aidan's brain has atrophied (shrunk) and that several areas deep in his brain (basal ganglia) have infarcted (died). During the meeting Aidan's doctor told us that his goal is to get Aidan off as much of the sedative drugs as possible and get him "awake." The neurologist (Dr. Ferraris) said that cerebral palsy is possible and that a prolonged coma is possible. From my understanding, she is making it sound as if Aidan will be in a permanent vegetative state. We also spoke with the social worker and none of the rehab facilities are willing to take a chance on Aidan. They are only willing to take him for a week or two so that we can learn how to take care of him at home.

Our other neurologist, Dr. Corbier, came in after the meeting and spoke with us. He seems a bit more optimistic and is upset that the rehab facilities have just written off Aidan's case. He is definitely willing to try alternative therapies and has asked us to make a note of Aidan's responses to the medications he is given so that he can come up with a different drug protocol for him, since some of the medications don't seem to be effective. He also wants to try to preserve the rest of Aidan's brain function by treating him with antioxidants, etc. I mentioned some of the research I've found about Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy and CranioSacral Therapy and he knew about both. I think that he would be willing to try either type of therapy for Aidan in addition to other therapies.

At this point, we are all just very overwhelmed by the meeting today. We are disheartened by the results of the MRI and are still praying for the best outcome.

Aidan did have some storms today, but he was able to calm himself down and from 4pm until about 9pm or so he was sleeping peacefully. We even saw him smile and yawn in his sleep several times.

We called his nurse just a little bit ago and she said that he did have a little storm but settled himself back down after they changed his diaper and went back to sleep.

After everything that happened today and as horrible as I've felt, seeing Aidan smile in his sleep while Russ and I were stroking his hair made me feel a million times better. Knowing that he was able to settle down without medications is a big relief as well. He will be completely weaned off of the Versed tomorrow. They've been decreasing it by .1mg ever 8 hours. When we left he was at .2mg, so by 10am tomorrow morning he will be off of it completely.

I just pray that he has a good weekend, and these storms continue to calm and he is able to find his way back to us. Aidan is such a shining light and has such an amazing, happy personality. You can't help but fall in love with him. I just hate to think that we may lose that.

Please continue to pray for him, and our family. I, personally, have been having a very hard time keeping my faith through this. We appreciate everyone's prayers, love and support since this whole ordeal began. We'll continue to try to update on his condition each day.

~Erin