- #1
Thread Owner
His name is Westin. I went to high school with his mom, Andrea. He contracted HSV1 (the virus that causes cold sores) in Dec., and the infection spread to his brain and caused encephalitis. His condition has continued to deteriorate since then. These are his mom's fb updates from the last few days:
Sunday:
It breaks my heart to say that Westin hasn't improved since Friday morning. He's still in critical care with a fever and unable to move his body effectively. The virus that he initially had and was treated for, known as HSV, did not return. All other tests for any other kind of infection have come back negative. It was explained to us last night by a neurologist that as his brain heals, the inflammation will subside leaving behind scarring and/or dissolved tissue; meaning permanent brain damage. His rapid regression over the past week is most likely due to the fact that inflamed cells, still able to function, turned into damaged cells, not able to function. His MRI scan from Tuesday supports that explanation with both sides of his brain showing permanent damage. It's hard to believe in just a weeks time, Westin lost his abilities to sit, walk, laugh and his desire to eat. At times, Westin doesn't respond to Shaun and I's voices. I won't explain how that feels. But despite his current circumstances, we're not giving up hope and we'll never stop praying for a miracle. Children's brains are remarkable and they beat the odds all the time. Westin deserves your continued prayers as he travels a long, exhausting journey to fight back and regain what has been lost. We pray Westin's miracle is yet to come.
Tuesday:
With a shattered heart, I say that Westin's mental state has deteriorated to the point of not recognizing or responding to our voices or even at times, our presence in the room. He has also developed what the neurologist calls a moving disorder; meaning his body makes constant involuntary movements. This is more than likely due to remaining irritation in the brain and medicine has been started in hopes of relaxing his body. Shaun and I are having an extremely hard time even attempting to cope with his current condition. It's becoming too much to handle as we watch our son suffer with no medical answers as to why it's happening. He keeps heading in the wrong direction despite our prayers for healing. Shaun and I will be taking some time to ourselves as we talk to God about His plan for Westin and what we are to do from this point forward. Thank you again for your prayers during this very difficult time.
Later on Tues:
As Shaun and I attempt to cope with Westin's current state, additional details of his latest MRI scan have been made known to us and are unfortunately not in his favor. Wow. I didn't think the cross we are bearing, especially Westin, could get any heavier. In addition to his temporal lobes, the frontal lobe of his brain shows signs of injury as well as the brain stem. To explain how aggressively this virus attacked him, the first spinal tap done to test for HSV came back negative. That means there weren't enough viral cells in the spinal fluid to activate a positive test. A week after admission, another spinal tap was done confirming HSV. Even though treatment was started before a positive test, the virus was able to spread outside of it's normal area of infection. The area of the brain responsible for peripheral eye sight may have been affected as well which could explain why he has trouble focusing or following people around the room. His hearing will have to be checked at some point as well. My chest physically hurts as I type this information about my son. Honestly, I don't feel like talking about it at all but if there's a chance it will initiate more prayers for Westin, I'll do it for his sake. The odds are stacked against him in every direction but instead of losing hope and giving up on any type of recovery, I'm choosing to hang on because Westin has. His road to recovery is going to be long and exceptionally hard. Probably much much harder than I'm trying to imagine right now. But if Westin chooses to climb that mountain, which I know he will, I'll be by his side step by step. If anyone is deserving of a miraculous come back, it's our sweet Westin, who has been through so much in such a short amount of time. God bless you baby boy.
ETA: There is a fb page for him at https://www.facebook.com/groups/305376696166650/.
Sunday:
It breaks my heart to say that Westin hasn't improved since Friday morning. He's still in critical care with a fever and unable to move his body effectively. The virus that he initially had and was treated for, known as HSV, did not return. All other tests for any other kind of infection have come back negative. It was explained to us last night by a neurologist that as his brain heals, the inflammation will subside leaving behind scarring and/or dissolved tissue; meaning permanent brain damage. His rapid regression over the past week is most likely due to the fact that inflamed cells, still able to function, turned into damaged cells, not able to function. His MRI scan from Tuesday supports that explanation with both sides of his brain showing permanent damage. It's hard to believe in just a weeks time, Westin lost his abilities to sit, walk, laugh and his desire to eat. At times, Westin doesn't respond to Shaun and I's voices. I won't explain how that feels. But despite his current circumstances, we're not giving up hope and we'll never stop praying for a miracle. Children's brains are remarkable and they beat the odds all the time. Westin deserves your continued prayers as he travels a long, exhausting journey to fight back and regain what has been lost. We pray Westin's miracle is yet to come.
Tuesday:
With a shattered heart, I say that Westin's mental state has deteriorated to the point of not recognizing or responding to our voices or even at times, our presence in the room. He has also developed what the neurologist calls a moving disorder; meaning his body makes constant involuntary movements. This is more than likely due to remaining irritation in the brain and medicine has been started in hopes of relaxing his body. Shaun and I are having an extremely hard time even attempting to cope with his current condition. It's becoming too much to handle as we watch our son suffer with no medical answers as to why it's happening. He keeps heading in the wrong direction despite our prayers for healing. Shaun and I will be taking some time to ourselves as we talk to God about His plan for Westin and what we are to do from this point forward. Thank you again for your prayers during this very difficult time.
Later on Tues:
As Shaun and I attempt to cope with Westin's current state, additional details of his latest MRI scan have been made known to us and are unfortunately not in his favor. Wow. I didn't think the cross we are bearing, especially Westin, could get any heavier. In addition to his temporal lobes, the frontal lobe of his brain shows signs of injury as well as the brain stem. To explain how aggressively this virus attacked him, the first spinal tap done to test for HSV came back negative. That means there weren't enough viral cells in the spinal fluid to activate a positive test. A week after admission, another spinal tap was done confirming HSV. Even though treatment was started before a positive test, the virus was able to spread outside of it's normal area of infection. The area of the brain responsible for peripheral eye sight may have been affected as well which could explain why he has trouble focusing or following people around the room. His hearing will have to be checked at some point as well. My chest physically hurts as I type this information about my son. Honestly, I don't feel like talking about it at all but if there's a chance it will initiate more prayers for Westin, I'll do it for his sake. The odds are stacked against him in every direction but instead of losing hope and giving up on any type of recovery, I'm choosing to hang on because Westin has. His road to recovery is going to be long and exceptionally hard. Probably much much harder than I'm trying to imagine right now. But if Westin chooses to climb that mountain, which I know he will, I'll be by his side step by step. If anyone is deserving of a miraculous come back, it's our sweet Westin, who has been through so much in such a short amount of time. God bless you baby boy.
ETA: There is a fb page for him at https://www.facebook.com/groups/305376696166650/.
