Brayden having surgery tomorrow

Brayden is having surgery tomorrow. He will be getting his new feeding tube (Mickey Button) and they will be looking at his throat to see if his trach can try to come out at some point. They want him to keep the trach during the winter even if everything looks good with his throat, due to him being sick alot. We just hope everything looks good so we can work toward getting the trach removed. Brayden is feeling much better now. He had a right lower lobe infiltrate and was put on an atibiotic. He is so much better now. I finally posted up some pictures from the birthday party!

Brayden is 2 Years Old!!!!!!

Its hard to believe that Brayden is already 2 years old. We had a nice birthday party for him yesterday. Pawpaw even came dressed as Santa Claus. He even tasted a little of the the cake. Even though he wasn't feeling well, he had a good time. We are going to the doctor today since Brayden is still sick and seems to be getting worse. Hopefully they can get him cleared up and this won't interfere with his surgery scheduled next week. We have waited long enough for this so everyone pray for Brayden to get better. I will post up some pictures from the party later.

We have some good news! Brayden is finally scheduled for his surgery on December 15. It is a day surgery so he won't have to stay overnight. They will be looking at his throat to see if his the swelling has gone down enough so that his trach can be taken out. If he has some scar tissue there they will remove it at that time. They are also going to put in a different feeding tube while he under the anesthesia. He seems to be swallowing ok but they still dont want anything by mouth until his throat has been rechecked. He will have to learn how to eat all over again anyway. The wont remove his trach at this time but we will know if his throat has healed. If everything looks good with his throat he will be able to get the trach taken out at soon. We are hoping that everything looks good so he can hurry up and get the trach taken out. Brayden has been sick still with coughing and runny nose. He did get to eat some Thanksgiving dinner, I pureed him some turkey, dressing, green beans, and sweet potatoes and gave it to him through his feeding tube. We are all sick of turkey now after eating so much of it. More good news is that the DFCS has closed their case they had with us. I guess hiring a lawyer took care of them. Brayden really likes the Christmas tree and the christmas lights. Braydens birthday is on Monday Dec. 8th, He will be 2. We are having his birthday party on Sunday.

Finally an Update

Not much has been going on since I last posted. We have heard that DFCS is wanting to close our case now. Someone from the Governors office is doing an investigation into the case and the Bartow County DFCS. Brayden is still sick and can't seem to get over his cough and cold. No news yet on getting the trach removed either. Both Doctors can't seem to get their stuff together to arrange a date for his throat to be looked at and his new feeding tube put in. Brayden did get his stander and likes it pretty well. He has been kinda fussy lately due to being sick and getting aggrevated with coughing. We are ready to eat some good food on Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Holiday!!!!

Update on harassment

We have decided to hire a lawyer to help deal with the Department of Family and Childrens Services. How ironic that an agency who is supposed to be helping Brayden is probably going to end up costing us money we do not have. Money that could be well spent on care or treatments to help Brayden. I have also sent letters to government officials regarding the harassment to see if anyone can help to resolve this matter.Who else do you ask for help when you are being harassed by a state or government agency? I received a call from the governors office saying that someone from the Department of Human Resources was going to investigate the matter. So hopefully we can get something resolved. Brayden has been doing very well and continues to be all smiley and happy even laughing out loud at times. Even though he still has a runny nose and cough he has been in good spirits. He finally got his swing for in the house from his Physical Therapist. He likes it pretty well. He also really likes his new wheelchair and is tolerating sitting in it very well. I will try to post some more pictures up here soon.

Frustrated!!!!!! Being Harassed

We feel like we are being harassed by Family and Childrens Services. They say that it is all routine stuff but they keep coming to our house and we feel like they are harrassing us. Brayden's accident happened in April, they started coming here in August and have been coming by our house or calling wanting to come out here almost every other week for some reason or another. They want us to have family team meetings and have a social worker come out to our house every week for family meetings. We are fed up with them. They say it is all rountine stuff but everytime they come to our house we all have to be here. They have been here 3 times in the past two weeks and they want Curtis to miss work to be here every time they are here. They even want our kids to miss school so they can be a part of these family meetings, which is not going to happen. They scheduled a meeting here last Monday and Curtis missed work to be here and only 1 person showed up and they couldn't do their meeting and will have to reschedule it. Everytime they come here we all have to tell them what happened on the day of the accident and relive it all over again, even my other 2 children are asked what happened that day. How inconsiderate can they be? Making the other 2 kids relive the traumatic events of that day over and over again. They said due to the severity of injury from his accident
if we refuse to cooperate they will seek legal action. We take care of our kids and they are provided for very well. They said that since Brayden's accident happened there is obviously lack of parental supervision in our home. Which is not true. I don't understand why we are being scrutinized by them because an accident happened. Why can't they go and help some children who really need their help.

On a good note Brayden went to the ENT doctor on Friday. The doctor is going to schedule to look at his throat to see if the scar tissue had resolved enough to remove his trach. If he still has some scar tissue they will remove it then. If everything looks good they will schedule to remove his trach. He will have to stay 2 nights in the hospital but it will be well worth it. We hope everything looks good and he can hurry up and get rid of the trach. We think it will greatly help in speeding up his progress. He has been so good since we got the ear infection under control. He has been all smiles and almost laughing at times.

Halloween Pictures

We are home and Brayden is feeling much better now

Brayden enjoying his bath
Miralce Mountain Facility
Brayden doing oxysound harmonics
Here we are coming out of the chamber
Hyperbaric chamber
I haven't posted since we came home from Miracle Mountain because we have been sick and very busy, since getting home. We came home last Tuesday Night, Brayden was not feeling well. He was fairly good on the trip home but, started feeling really bad that night. He went to the doctor on Wednesday, he was running a fever, had a runny nose and cough. He had a pretty bad ear infection. We started him on antibiotics and he is feeling much better now. He is back to feeling good again with smiles all the time and no fussing. I just wonder if his ear was bothering him the whole time we were at the hyperbaric chamber. Brayden is much more relaxed now and not as stiff as as before we went to hbot. He is focusing really well with his eyes and the both seem to be going in the same direction now most of the time. He can definantly see now. He will watch you and start smiling at things he sees. He is making more sounds now and at times it seems like he is trying to talk. We go to the GI doctor on Thursday and to the ENT doctor on Friday. We are hoping that we can start getting things ready for his trach to come out. He is doing so well now. He is swallowing now so hopefully we can get a swallow study done to see if he can start taking some things by mouth. He is holding his head up very good now, too. Everyone is amazed at how well he is doing compared to when he first came home. We have scheduled to go back to Miracle Mountain in April for 40 more hbot treatments. We are going to continue doing the soft chamber treatments until we go back. We just hope that he continues to make progress and that he can get his trach out very soon.

We are halfway done with HBOT

We have done 20 treatments of HBOT now. Brayden has been very fussy and doesn't like the change in his schedule and not being at home. He also does not like wearing the hood on his head while we are in the hyperbaric chamber. He starts fussing as soon as he sees it coming. We can't wait until the treatments are done so we can come home. We do 2 treatments a day 1 at 7:30 and 1 at 11:30. and we do sound therapy 2 x a day for 30 minute sessions each. Curtis and the kids came to visit for the weekend so maybe Brayden will cheer up some. Mom and Pawpaw are worn out because Brayden has decided not to sleep much while we are here. So maybe things will calm down since Brayden is getting more used to doing the treatments. I haven't had time to update because things have been so hectic here. We also do not have any service on our cell phones here so I can't get calls or make calls. We will be done on Oct 21with all of the treatments. Things are going well except all of the fussing from Brayden. Hopefully though this means that things are going to get better.

Update on Brayden

Brayden has been doing pretty well the past few weeks. He has been able to wear his passy muir valve (speaking and swallowing valve) on his trach all day long. He is able to breathe air in through his trach but he has to breathe out through his mouth or nose with the valve on. He is also able to make sounds and able to cough stuff up instead of all of his air and secretions coming out of his trach site. This is a great accomplishment compared to only a few weeks ago he couldn't even keep it on for a few minutes without coughing so hard and struggling so hard to breathe out with it on he would just pop the valve right off of his trach. He has been making gooing sounds all the time with it on and he makes sure we can hear those loud cries when he gets fussy. We were having to suction his trach many times an hour but now since he is wearing the passy muir valve, we don't even need to suction him at all. He is able to cough up any secretions and his is swallowing pretty well. Hopefully this is a good sign that the trach will soon be gone. Brayden has been feeling alot better since we started him on an antibiotic for his g-tube site (feeding tube) which looked infected. His g-tube site is looking much better now too, it was all red and irritated and I think alot of his fussiness was due to pain from his g-tube site. He is starting to be able to move around alot more now too. He is kicking his legs now and he is also lifting his head very well when he is on his tummy. He can scoot around and push himself off of his mat we lay him on while he is on the floor especially when he is mad or fussy. He loves to sit in dads recliner and has really taken it over but now he has figured out how to scoot and push his way down to get out of it. He wants to walk so bad he can stand it. He will stand up and while you are holding him and get so mad because he can't hold himself up. He has started to push his knees up when he is on his tummy too and he has started to roll a little bit when he is laying down. He can roll over by himself if he gets mad enough but if he isn't fussy he can't quite make it. He has his good days and bad days and we just take things one day at a time because we never know what to expect. He enjoyed his sisters birthday yesterday, he even tasted a litte dab of icing and ice cream. He has been really sweet and calm all day today and able to wear his passy muir valve all day today. He has been smiling and gooing all day. We are excited about going to Miracle Mountain for HBOT. We will be leaving on Sept. 28th and gone through Oct. 21st. Thanks to everyone for their donations who have made it possible for Brayden to be able to receive these treatments.

Pics from Brayden's Benefit Car & Bike Show

Thanks to everyone who made this event a huge success!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are going to Miracle Mountain for HBOT in September!!!!

We got in to Miracle Mountain for their September-October Session for Brayden to do his hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We will be going from Sept 28 - Oct 21. They have a hard chamber there with 100% oxygen. We hope we see results like we have using the soft chamber, because he has came a long way since the day he came home. We are excited to see the results from doing the 100% oxygen chamber which delivers more pressure and 100% oxygen. Where as the soft chamber he has been going to uses less pressure and less oxygen but, we have seen great results from doing it. So we are very excited to see what the hard chamber will do for him. Mom and Pawpaw will be going with him.

Brayden has been sick again. Spitting up, very fussy, running a fever and just feeling rotten. He has also been very agitated and fussing all day and all night, where nothing at all comforts him. Its very frustrating when he is constantly fussing and nothing that we do helps to comfort him. We went to the pediatrician and everything checked out ok, so maybe it is just something viral. He has been feeling a little better today with less fussing than the previous 5 days. No fever today either, so that is good. Maybe he is on the road to recovery.

We hope he is feeling well by Saturday so he can make an appearance at his benefit car show. We really appreciate everything everyone has done with the car show for Brayden. The address for the car show is: 4976 Hwy 58, Chattanooga, TN 37416. We hope it is a success because without the benefits for him there is no way we would be able to do the hyperbaric oxygen therapy for him.

Brayden has been sick

Brayden has been sick with a stomach virus. He has been very fussy, spitting up alot, and vomiting some too. He has been very agitated and seems to be in alot of pain with his little tummy. But he did give me some smiles tonight when I was playing with him. Hopefully this will pass quickly and he will be feeling better really soon. I have been in contact with Miracle Mountain about Brayden going for HBOT in September. They had 1 space left and I sent off the paperwork today, hopefully he will be able to go. The only reserve your space after they receive your deposit, so we hope it gets there before anyone else's does. Friday is Big Brother Evan's Birthday, he will be an old man of 14. Happy Birthday Evan! Brayden's car show is coming up soon too, Saturday September 6th.


Brayden sitting up in his bumbo chair!!!

Brayden feeling better now

Brayden is finally feeling better and looking much better now. Brayden had an allergic reaction to triple antibiotic ointment that we put on his face, for the blisters from his sunburn. Here is a pic of before the ointment was applied and after the ointment was applied.



He has been smiling alot the past few days and almost laughing at times. He wants to get up so bad, he gets mad because he cant go anywhere. He did manage to roll or scoot his way off of his mat he usually lays on. I never saw how he kept getting off of it. He is moving his head side to side and tracking more with his eyes. He will follow you if you are just walking by him and don't even say anything. He is also more relaxed now and even straightens out his right leg. We are still doing the mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the soft chamber. Hopefully, we will start doing the hard chamber treatments with 100% oxygen soon. Many thanks to everyone who donated money to help with this and thanks again to everyone who helped out with the ride. Brayden's next benefit is the Car show in Chattanooga, on Sept. 6th.

Braydens Ride

Braydens benefit ride was great, we raised $2,060. Thanks to everyone who helped with the ride, the carwash, and the food. We had a total of 42 bikes in the ride. Thanks to the pathfinders youth group from Apison Seventh Day Adventists Church, they washed a lot of cars today. Thanks to Ringgold City police for their escorts through the intersections on Alabama Hwy. Thanks to Walgreens for letting us set up the ride there. Brayden had a good day and enjoyed being at the ride even though he did get a pretty good sunburn today.

Pictures from Benefit Ride

Ready for the Ride

Brayden trying on his glasses, and smiling for his nurse Catherine.
We hope the benefit ride is a huge success! Thanks to everyone who has helped out with the ride and to everyone who participates.

Really Tired

Once again the nurse did not show up again. It seems everytime we have something to do the nurse does not show up. We have to be in Atlanta at 8:30 in the morning for a Neurologist appt. so we will have to leave our house about 6:00 am to beat rush hour traffic and make it there on time. So I am staying up most of the night and having to get up at 5:00am to get ready to go. I have a full schedule of things I have to do tomorrow when we get back, so no time for naps. The nurse who usually stays here on Tuesdays will not be coming back because she was caught sleeping several times. So we probably will not have a nurse again tomorrow night. I feel like I can't get a break. Brayden has been very fussy, he is teething getting 4 teeth at the same time. Otherwise we went to see the ENT doctor last week and he said that he would look at Brayden's throat in 3 months to see if his trach can come out. So everyone pray that Brayden can get his trach out.

Brayden had a good day

Brayden had a good day yesterday, he was smiling all day. It is great to see that smile again. We have a busy schedule this week with appointments, I will try to update if I can.

Braydens You Tube Video

Benefit Ride For Brayden August 10th

The benefit ride for Brayden will be on August 10th at 10:00 am. I am not sure of all the details yet but will post them as soon as I know. The ride will start at Walgreens in Ringgold. There will also be a carwash there and food. I think the prices will be 25$ per bike but I am not sure yet on that. Anyone with ideas on other things please feel free to let us know. Brayden has had a good day today. He did not have any ativan all day. He has been pretty calm, but is getting a little spoiled wanting to be held alot. He is holding his head up well now and is looking around and turning his head toward sounds even more than before. We are still not sure about his vision, I think he can see some. He has been very relaxed and had a really good day today.

Brayden contiues to improve

Brayden continues doing his HBOT in the soft chamber. He has done 14 treatments so far. He is now holding his head up pretty well and he is turning head to sounds. He is moving his arms more now and grasping things with his hands. His hands are more relaxed now. This is a great improvement for the tight balled fists he has had. His right side still remains very tight and flexed up most of the time but we are woking on stretching him out. Brayden started on a new medicine a Catapres patch, it seems to relax him alot more and he is now relaxing his right arm more. We have good days and bad days with the storming. Yesterday was a bad day with storming almost all day but today has been a good day. We are still trying to raise money for Brayden to get HBOT in a hard chamber, we havent really gotten anything yet. The benefit ride and carwash for Brayden is scheduled for August. Brayden has been smiling more now and that is the best thing of all. The picture is one of him smiling and laughing before his accident.

Continuing with HBOT

Brayden continues doing his Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments (soft chanmber). He is doing well with them. He is now holding his head up pretty good, and even turning his head from side to side at times. He will turn his head and look when he hears things now. He is still having the neurostorms but the ativan is working well and usually calms him down pretty quickly. Not much else going on with him right now. We cant wait until his Physical Therapy gets started. They are supposed to come out and evaluate him on July 3rd. So hopefully things will continue to go well and he will continue to make more improvements.

We have started Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

We have started a mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Brayden has been to 3 treatments. The mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy uses less pressure and oxygen than regular hyperbaric oxygen therapy but it is close to our home and it was affordable. We are still trying to raise money so Brayden can get regular hyperbaric oxygen treatmens. Brayden seems to be improving some. He can now hold his head up for a little while and he seems to be more alert now. He still continues having his neurostorms but the ativan is working pretty well to help calm him down. We are going for another HBOT today. I will try to update more often, as I am not finding much time to post. Please check out the link on the right to hugs for near drown children Brayden is the Child of the month on their website : )

Still Storming

Brayden is still having neurostorms. More frequently than before now. The only thing that helps is giving him ativan, which makes him sleep all the time. He has been crying alot, nothing seems to ease him. I just feel so helpless because nothing seems to help but knocking him out with the ativan. He finally got his bath seat so now he can take a bath in the bathtub!!!! We are still trying to raise money for his HBOT. Brayden went on his first outing on Friday. He went to see his pediatrician for a follow up since his hospital discharge. We are only getting nurses 12 hours a day at nights now from 7pm to 7am. Between all the other things I have to do and taking care of him, I am totally exhausted. I will try to update more often but I am finding very little time to do things now.

We came home today

Hooray!!! We finally came home today. It took a while to pack all of the stuff in the car after being in the hospital for 48 days. Brayden did great on the way home and slept the whole way home. All of his equipment was delivered and the nurses arrived to take care of him. His room is now full of all the junk it takes to take care of him. It was a pretty good day. Brayden did have one little episode of storming (high heart rate, very tense with increased tone, sweating). He is also having some stomach issues, not sure if it is the formula or what but he seems to be having some stomach cramping and a lot of gas. We have changed his formula to pediasure maybe that will help. So now we will see how everything goes at home. The nurses will be here for 24 hrs a day for the first 3 days. Hopefully everything will go well. Please continue praying for Brayden!!!!!!!!!!!

Brayden had an ok day today. He has been crying alot today. We have had the speaking valve on his trach today and we can actually hear him crying. After not hearing any sounds from him for over a month it is nice to hear him crying. We were only approved for inpatient Rehab in the hospital for 7 days. We did not get approved for Rehab any more so he will be switched back over to medical status in the hospital. Brayden will now only get 1 and 1/2 hours of therapy a day. That is 30 minutes a day for each discipline speech, occupational and physical therapy. Makes you wonder what the hell kind of monsters run insurance companies these days. You have a child who is walking and talking and eating all on their own and then he can't even hold his own head up, speak or eat and he only qualifies for 7 days of inpatient rehab. What is wrong with this system????? It seems to me that if a child has a brain injury that the insurance compainies want them to remain that way instead of getting them the therapy that they really need. We will hopefully be going home next week. We are just waiting on the insurance to approve home nursing care and to get all of his medical equipment delivered. Brayden did get fitted for a custom wheelchair today, it will take about 4 months before we get it though. But we have the one donated to us from a patient at my work PSA. It was only used one time and is in mint condition. I cant say thanks enough to them for letting us have it. When Brayden no longer needs it we will donate it to someone else who may need it. So right now we are just trying to get all of our training done at the hospital they mandate us to have before he can go home. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a Doctor at HyOX the hyperbaric Oxygen treatment center. We are trying to find a hyperbaric oxygen chamber clinic to take Brayden to once he comes home. This therapy has great results with brain injuries but is not approved for use with brain injuries in the US. So insurance will not cover the cost of this therapy. I am going to set up a fund for Braydens medical expenses because we will need alot of help so he can get these treatments. They are very, very expensive. I will have more information up on here later if you would like to make a donation.

Brayden did well in Rehab again today. He has been crying alot today also. He was sleepy most of the day today also. Brayden got a new wheelchair donated by a patients family from PSA. We may be getting to come home next week.

Continued healing

MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008 Brayden continues doing well in Rehab. Dad has been at the hospital with him over the weekend learning to do all of his care. Brayden did have some storming episodes lastnight, high heartrate, very tense and sweating alot he had to be given some ativan. He has been crying alot lately. The doctors did say that they would write an order for us to get the hyperbaric oxygen treatments. They suggested we see about getting tubes put in his ears first though. We just pray for his continued healing and hopefully we will get to come home soon. ___________________________________________________________________________ FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2008 Brayden is doing well in Rehab. He is continuing with Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. He got a regular bed in rehab instead of the baby bed he had in Icu, so we are able to lay with him and cuddle with him now. He is also only wearing the heated trach collar at night and his feedings are not continuous now. We can actually hold him without a bunch of tubes and wires connecting him to something. Braydens insurance only approved him to be in inpatient rehab for 7 days so we may be coming home sooner than we thought. They are already setting up home nursing care for us. Brayden had some new splints made for his arms today. He is still very tense and tight in his arms most of the time. They tried a speaking valve (passy-muir valve) on his trach but his trach is too big for him to breath around it. They have ordered him a smaller trach so hopefully he can use the speaking valve. It will take 3-5 days to get the new trach. So hopefully he will be able to make some sounds soon. WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008 We moved to Rehab today!!!!!!! Brayden contiues doing well and he even got up in a wheelchair yesterday. I pushed him all around the TICU unit not connected to any wires or anything. He is starting to act like he is trying to cry more now. He is looking around more now too, but he still isn't tracking or focusing on anything. Maybe we can start to make more progress being in Rehab now. WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008 We moved to Rehab today!!!!!!! Brayden contiues doing well and he even got up in a wheelchair yesterday. I pushed him all around the TICU unit not connected to any wires or anything. He is starting to act like he is trying to cry more now. He is looking around more now too, but he still isn't tracking or focusing on anything. Maybe we can start to make more progress being in Rehab now. _____________________________________________________________________ MONDAY, MAY 12, 2008

Brayden continues doing well. He is starting to look around even more and move around some more. He will make a face to something he does not like. Physical Therapy continues working with him while we are waiting on approval for Rehab. He has a little chair he has been sitting up in and he has also been up in a wheelchair. He has his new braces for his feet now. His lungs are clear now and he is doing very well with the trach.

FRIDAY, MAY 09, 2008

May 9, Brayden is continuing to do good on the heated trach collar. His secretions are a lot less now. He seems to waking up more and moving his eyes around but still not focusing on anything really. We moved out of the PICU yesterday because he is now stable. We are in the TICU, room 5. We are still waiting on approval to go to Rehab.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 07, 2008

May 7, Brayden is continuing to do good on the heated trach collar. His secretions are a lot less now. He seems to waking up more and moving his eyes around but still not focusing on anything really. We moved out of the PICU yesterday because he is now stable. We are in the TICU, room 5. We are still waiting on approval to go to Rehab.

TUESDAY, MAY 06, 2008

May 6, Brayden is off of the ventilator and on a trach collar today. He has been doing good with it, breathing all on his own. He has been a little more alert today, moving around some too. Hopefully he will continue doing good on the trach collar and we can be getting out of the PICU.

FRIDAY, MAY 02, 2008

They are weaning him off of the ventilator and continuing to wean him off of the sedation medication. He will start back on the methadone to prevent him from having any withdrawl symptoms. We have now been in the PICU for 22 days.

_____________________________________________________________________
THURSDAY, MAY 01, 2008

May 1st, Brayden's 1st trach change was done and the paralytic medication is stopped and they are weaning him off of the sedation. He is still on the venitlaor.

My journey of healing begins

Brayden suffered a near drowning on April 12, 2008. He was 16 months old.


Brayden was playing in the backyard with his sister Kaitlyn, they were jumping on the trampoline while I was cooking out on the grill. I went inside to take the food in and set the table so we could eat. When my daughter came in the front door, I immediately said, where is your brother? She said she didn't know we both ran out the back door. I scanned the backyard screaming his name. I asked Katilyn where is he at, she said I dont know maybe he fell in the pool. I looked in the pool I couldnt see anything at first the water was dark green and coated with a thick layer of pollen. Then on the other side of the pool, I saw his little blue and orange tennis shoes. He was floating face down in the water. I immediately ran to the other side of the pool and pulled him out. He was not breathing, I threw him over my shoulder and ran to the deck where CPR was started. My daughter ran inside to get the phone so I could call 911.

When EMS arrived he was still in full cardiac arrest. The EMS took him inside the ambluance to work on him and someone came out and told us that things did not look good for him. EMS continued CPR and after giving him Epi/Atropine his pulse finally returned they had a heartbeat of 38. He was intubated by EMS due to still not breathing and once stablized enough for flight he was flown to Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite. He had to be given more cpr and epi/atropine 2 times en route to the hospital due to his heartrate dropping really low. When he arrived at the hospital he was put on a ventilator and his body temperature was 80.06 F, they had to get him warmed up. He was admitted to the PICU for further care.

He had 2 CT scans done 1 of which showed a very mild disturbance of gray matter-white matter differentiation. His MRI showed that he had hypoxic ischemic injury with decreased diffusion involving the thalamus and hippocampal formations. The Neurologist said that he would have some deficits due to his brain injury but we really will not know what has been affected until he wakes up. Brayden remained on the ventilator until April 16th, he was taken off of the ventilator and put on oxygen by nasal cannula. He started having respiratory distress and was given racepinephrine treatments and started on methadone for possible withdrawl symptoms from the sedation used while he was intubated. He was started on a high flow oxygen by nasal cannula. He did well and was being weaned down on his oxygen. Sometime during all of this they thought he possibly had a seizure and they started him on Keppra to prevent seizures. On April 22 he started having respiratory distress again, work of breathing, increased heart rate, and blood pressure. On April 23 he was re-intubated and put back on the ventilator. On April 27 he was taken back off of the ventilator and tried again on the nasal cannula. He did well for the first day but that night he took a turn for the worse and almost had to be reintubated again.On April 28th, after talking with Brayden's doctors the decision to put in a tracheostomy was made. A PEG tube for feedings was also done at the same time. It was found that Brayden had acute inflammation with swelling of his sub-glottis area and active granulation tissue partially occluding the subglottis. Brayden made it through his surgery fine and now has a trach and G-tube. He has to be sedated and paralyzed until they do his first trach change. Now our journey of healing begins.


Brayden's Diagnoses:
Near drowning/Accidental drowning
Anoxic Encephalopathy
Generalized-onset seizures
Acute Respiratory failure
Surgeries: tracheostomy and G-tube