Medical updates - Updated by Jamie

I know everyone is anxious to hear what the outcome of all the tests are, sorry it has taken me a little while to post. Gene and I went up today, and it was a good visit. Let me first start by saying the Dr. called me on the phone this morning and updated me as to what the results of the MRI was. This Dr. has a very strong accent and I was not able to make out some of the things he was saying, but was able to get more clarification when I got there at the hospital. I think he called me because I initially called them this morning, so he was just returning my call and was expecting that I would spread the word I guess.
Anyway, they said that there wasn't anything too urgent on the MRI that they could see. They did say that Tyler is hypoxic which means he has had an event where he lost oxygen to the brain and the tissue is still tender. He is not sure if this is from a recent injury (like from his falls) or if it was from the initial event. They didn't know because this is the first MRI that has been done since his accident so they didn't have anything to compare it to, to see if this was a new injury or not. I still don't understand why they didn't do an MRI within that first couple of weeks at Jordan Valley Hospital, but they I do know they did the CT scan and EEG over there. So, in my opinion this hypoxia that he has is from the initial event when he went so long without oxygen. But what could be activating more problems is the medications he was on. The dr. said that any kind of narcotic or sedative or anti-anxiety drugs could have an affect on this hypoxia because there is not enough oxygen going to the brain. So, the plan is that Tyler is not to have anymore of those drugs. (Again, in my opinion), this all started when they bumped his anti-anxiety meds up from 2 times a day to 4 times a day and things started to go downhill with his eyes and his swallowing. Since being off of the meds the last two days he has been quite a bit better. He was still crossing his eyes a little bit today, but not really bad. And his swallowing is much better. I asked them if they know why his eyes are crossing and they could not see any indication as to what might be going on there. But he does have an appointment with an opthamologist next Wednesday and he might be able to help in some way. I wonder if it is just another muscle that needs to be worked on getting strengthened.
They also did an ultrasound of his neck to check the arteries and such, and everything looked fine there. They initially did a CT scan when he first got to the ER on Monday night and could not see any sign of stroke or hemorage, the MRI also showed no sign of stroke. The last test they did was the EEG. They did that just before we left the hospital today and we have not heard the results yet. They are looking to see if he has had any seizures or anything like that. Now, seizures don't mean he has to convulse and things like that, it could be happening while he is active doing things so that test will be able to tell us more on that. We have made an appointment with the neurologist and he will be able to go into more detail for us on each of the tests; that will be in a couple of weeks. So, it is possible that we will not hear anything more on anything until then.
The staff at McKay Dee were really good. I was very pleased with how well they took care of Tyler. Oh, let me just say how good Tyler was during the EEG. Once the tech got him all hooked up with the electrodes he was to hold still for like 20 minutes, and any of you who have seen him lately know it is really difficult for him to hold still right now, but he proved to us today that he could do it. He did so awesome and just layed there the whole time without moving, for the most part that is. I was so proud and told him when they were done how awesome he did and I didn't think he could hold still and he gave me a look like "thanks a lot" and "told you so" to prove that he could do it.
Tyler is understanding a little bit more each day as to what happened as well. He is learning to accept his mistake and wants to just get better. He asked me what caused this and I asked him if he remembered having a drug problem and he said yes. I told him this is a result of the drug problem and he shook his head and said "I'm an idiot". So, he understands. With his short term memory problem I don't know how much of it will stick but at the same time I will not be surprised if he doesn't forget. I reiterated to him how much of a blessing it is to still have him with us and we are all here to help him get through this no matter what it takes.
He smiled a lot today and laughed at a few things, that was so good to see. I think having him off of the meds will really help him progress. They transported him back to the care center just after his EEG, so he is back there now.
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted everyone to know of the outcome of the tests. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we can't say thank you enough.