We finally have closure in the first chapter of Jason's life, the lung issue. Yesterday we visited with Dr. Uchida, the pulmonologist at Primary Children's Hospital. The end result is that he thinks Jason is just fine. We thought so too, but it was nice to finally hear it from him.
During the visit Dr. Uchida tested Jason's oxygen saturation levels, and he also listened to him breath through a double stethoscope. Both of those procedures checked out normal. We explained to the doctor what happened from labor and delivery through those 2 weeks in the NICU. Dr. Uchida was particularly interested in the labor and delivery story (the 4 hours of pushing, face presentation, and forceps). He explained that the Phrenic nerve runs through the neck and it provides the only motor supply to the diaphragm. Babies who have had hard deliveries, and consequently a lot of pulling on their necks, often have this nerve stretched out enough to cause temporary paralysis of the diaphragm. The doctor thinks it is quite possible that this is all that happened and would explain why Jason had trouble breathing at first, but why he later showed no complications and moved quickly through all the breathing devices.
So it appears my dad may have been right; the doctors in the NICU were probably too overcautious. The pneumonia was real, but the other respiratory problems were probably less than they feared them to be. However, we don't know this for sure, and we won't know without additional testing. But since he is doing so well, Dr. Uchida said that additional testing isn't necessary unless he shows signs of problems in the future. I am still grateful for the good care Jason received in the NICU.
No comments:
Post a Comment