Garrett Update

When we arrived this morning, Garrett looked better than when we left last night. Apparently, in the time we were gone, they discovered what they think is the source of the problem. Someone had listened to Garrett's fontanelle (a soft spot on his head) and heard a bruit. That indicated something was wrong with the circulatory system in the brain, because you are not supposed to hear the whooshing of blood there. 

When they performed an ultrasound of Garrett's brain, they found a vein that was larger than it should be. The first doctor who told us about it said that in the scheme of things, it's not the worst diagnosis, since it's treatable, so our impression was that this was abnormal, but not terrible news. When the neurosurgeon came in to explain things, however, it sounded much more grim.  

Dr. Wetjen said Garrett has a vein of Galen malformation. It's very rare and very serious. It's treatable, but there are risks with the treatment because it requires doing an angiogram to embolize the arteries -- essentially closing them off with a "super glue" to divert the blood flow elsewhere.

Since Garrett is so small, it makes the procedure very difficult and puts his kidneys at risk from the contrast dye they need to use. His legs and brain are also at risk if the angiogram ruptures his arteries. It sounds like there are other risks, but my brain dropped to about 10 percent functionality when I heard "high mortality rate" -- and that's in the process of treatment. Not treating it pretty much guarantees heart failure and death, so that's not an option. 

What little bit of me can look out beyond today and tomorrow might think about the scenario of treatment going very well and things being "normal." That's possible, and that's what we're praying for, but it feels like the emphasis here is on prayer as the risks seem awfully, awfully high. It sounds like they'll perform the angiogram later today.  

Right now they’re giving Garrett saline to improve his coagulation. He's apparently bumped two other patients for the angiogram this afternoon, so they're doing what they can to take care of this as quickly as possible. One complication is that with what he's been through, his kidneys already aren't performing as they should be, and the dye they need to use for the angiogram will put an extra strain on them, so they're trying to get his kidneys to improve before the angiogram as well. The tone from the doctors makes it sound like they are trying and hoping for the best, but the confidence level I hear in their voices isn't very comforting.