Dear Son Medical Update~Answer?

It's been a busy week. Dear Son was admitted on Sunday and a variet of blood work was done, including some non-specific markers for infection. The blood work, along with seizure labs, urinalysis and urine culture were all negative. A pelvic x-ray was performed on Sunday to see if there might be any reason for the crying since issues with the pelvis can be difficult to detect in a physical exam. Yesterday they did an MRI and today they did a CT scan of the abdomen with contrast.

The radiologist just read the exam about twenty minutes ago and found "free air in the bowel wall". That's the "official" term. The resident just called me to tell me and I don't have a whole lot of information. From what she told me, there can be a few causes of this: medication, infection and not enough blood flow to the area. They are calling the pediatric surgical resident now to do a physical exam on Dear Son. Since they don't know what caused it, they'll stop his feeding, since feeds require blood flow to the area. In addition, they'll start him on IV fluids. They'll do another CBC test and a stool test (sorry I didn't get the name) to see if there is fecal blood. I asked if I could see it if there were blood and she said sometimes yes and other times no, because it can be microscopic. I haven't seen any blood in his stool and I change his diapers all the time.

The other good news is that he doesn't not have a fever so there probably isn't any infection. In addition, his belly is soft and he's not vomiting. All good signs.

This also fits with why he didn't like to lean back very much. He would cry when I would try to put the footrest up on the recliner and also cry when Dad tried to lean his bath chair back to wash his hair. A few weeks ago, Dear Son would scream bloody murder when he would recline the bath chair leaning him back in the bath chair; when Dad gave him a bath the other day, Dear Son was o.k. and not crying like he was. Over the past few weeks, Dear Son was crying a lot so it was very hard to pinpoint any one spot where he cried more than others.

At this point, we'll probably have to wait and see what the pediatric surgeons say tomorrow. I did tell the resident that the ARX gene mutation can express itself in this area so I really don't have any way to know if there is any connection to the mutation or if this is just a random event.

I'll update you when I have more information. I had to work today so I am home tonight and I'll return to the hospital tomorrow morning. I may not be able to update you until I return home but I'll do my best.

Update~10:59 a.m. 1/7/10: The free air is located outside the bowel wall and is significant. The GI surgeons have been called in and are deciding how to resolve this issue. I suspect that since it's significant, it will most likely require surgical intervention. Just a guess on my part.