Tuesday April 17, 2012

Brandon has been progressing very well in the Rehabilitation facility.  He has had another procedure to dilate his esophagus and is starting to enjoy more solid foods.  Brandon's lungs are getting stronger and he only requires the assistance of the CPAP machine at night! He has been working hard in his physical therapy sessions to gain strength in his arms, back and trunk.  Brandon is now able to sit up on his own for a very short period of time!  Brandon's strength is very important because they have given him a tentative day to go home of May 4th!  This is very exciting but there is a lot to do in order to get ready for him.  We are starting to do some remodeling on the house and are researching some equipment that will help Brandon be comfortable at home and become more self sufficient.  We are so proud of his progress and look forward to having him home again and progressing in the next step of his journey!

Happy Easter Buddy!

Tuesday April 3, 2012

Brandon finally made it to Rehab! He is finally healthy enough to go with one change from his past two attempts. The doctors now feel Brandon will do best if he has his trach buttoned during the day and put back on the ventilator at night to allow his lungs to recuit his lung capacity. He is thrilled to be back and determined not to leave until it's time to go home.

Friday March 30, 2012

Brandon is having a much better day today. He is back to having his trach buttoned which allows him to breath on his own, speak and have small sips of juice and water. He was also able to go down to radiology in the afternoon to do the barium swallow study where he found out he can now eat pureed and soft food such as ice cream and cheesecake. He had his first real meal in over 3 months! He was so excited to eat mashed potatoes, chicken soup, cheesecake and hot chocolate.

Congratulations Brandon!!!

Thursday March 29, 2012

Brandon had a rough early morning on Wednesday. He began running a fever and needed a bronoscopy to clear out his lungs again. He was then put back on the ventilator to reinflate the right lung. Results from his lung cultures showed he has another infection. This means his moving back to the Rehab has to be postponed once more.

Tuesday March 27, 2012

Brandon has continued to ride the roller coaster of health issues. It was decided that he would wait another day in the ICU to continue to prepare to have his esophagus dilated on Tuesday. He has been working hard to stretch his mouth to allow for the bite block he needs to wear for the procedure. He is now able to fit 14 tongue depressors between his molars on both sides of his mouth. Brandon, no one can call you a big mouth!

The procedure went well Tuesday afternoon and the doctor was able to stretch his esophagus from 5 milimeters to 8 milimeters. He will have more dilations every two weeks until he gets to 18 milimeters.This is still quite small so Brandon will have a barium swallow study to determine what food he can actually eat.

Remember...Baby Steps!!