So far today....

The resident, hospitalist and pediatric neurosurgeon have been in to see Matthew. Matthew did sleep all night long and still has not awoken, even with various pokes and prods from the doctors. He stirs a bit but then sleeps. No one really seems to know what is wrong. He definately has some sort of URI (upper respiratory infection), but if/what else is going on no one knows. The pediatric neurologist seems to think the eye movement and neck muscle twitching we've been seeing is NOT seizure activity. He felt that since we've looked at everything else, it was now appropriate to tap his shunt to look for infection. I was and still am scared to DEATH about this. Tapping the shunt does come with the risk of infecting the shunt just by nature of introducing a foreign body. So, PLEASE send prayers heavenward for protection from infection. That is the LAST thing Mr. Matthew needs. I've always been more scared of them tapping his shunt than anything else. The fluid that came back from his shunt looked clear, not cloudy, so the probability is no infection, but we will have to let in grow in the lab for a while to make sure. It was a very quick procedure that he did not even flinch with.

Matthew, as I said, has not woken up at all, really other than being picked on yesterday, he slept. He is one sick little baby. At this point, I can't even awaken him to eat. They are putting his feeds down his NG tube and hopefully he'll be feeling well soon.

The neurologist has also been in contact with the neurologist on-call for Matthew's neurologist in Minnesota, and they want us to do an EEG and some more blood work today. Matthew's neurologist in Minnesota, Dr. Doescher will be back on tomorrow and we will consult with him then.

I will update more today if I know more, but that is what has happened so far. Steve will be up soon, and he'll be able to see Matthew and spend some time with him.