Brinley’s Health Updates
I’m sure many of you know the ongoing health problems Brinley has been dealing with. I thought I’d update you on the latest developments. Let’s break this down to one category at a time.
Eyes– Brinley has her right eye patched for 3 hours a day. We’re trying to get her left eye working as much as possible. She will be having surgery on June 24th to fix her crossed eyes. It’s supposed to be a simple surgery but still scary for the parents.
Reflux– Brinley is on 3 medications to try and get her reflux under control. The biggest reason to get the reflux under control is because of her apnea.
Sleep Apnea– The pulmonologist believes her reflux could be causing the apnea. She’s breathing just fine during her awake time and her light sleep, but once deep sleep hits her oxygen drops to around 70%. The doctor explained that because your muscles relax her reflux is probably occurring during this time. We’re not sure it’s caused by reflux so if the meds don’t solve it then she gets a scope done to see if there’s an obstruction. Brinley is on oxygen during all of her naps and overnight. Here’s a photo of her little mask which she screams about every time I put it on.
Muscle Tone–Brinley has also become really behind in meeting her milestones. Her head is still very wobbly and she has a hard time lifting it all the way up. Her legs seem very strong but her neck and back are pretty weak. This week we had a physical therapist come evaluate her for services and we found out she was in the 4th percentile for development. Aaah! Scary. So now Brinley will be seeing a physical therapist and I will be doing daily therapy with her at home. Part of her therapy is to put her feet in her mouth as much as possible. She now loves to suck on her big toe. I think it’s hilarious but it grosses Aaron out.
In good news, we have a plan and hopefully she’s progressing. She doesn’t seem to have problems mentally or socially. Brinley loves to laugh and smile. She will sigh at you when she’s bored and she has one feisty temper. We love her and can’t imagine our lives without her.
July 14th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I am so sorry that Brinley has such health problems. I will keep all 3 of you in my prayers.
Myra
I am Mike’s cousin on his mothers side