Team Silas
Donation protected
Friday Nov 21st we noticed a clear fluid dripping from our 8 month old son's right ear. It was so much fluid it had completely soaked his clothing and bedding.
We rushed him to Franklin Square where they confirmed it was spinal fluid from his brain and a CT scan showed he also had air bubbles in his brain. From there we were rushed to Johns Hopkins via an ambulance. They had specialists there more qualified to handle this.
We do not know what caused this. No doctor has been able to tell us the cause. Because of not knowing how it happened it was a trial and error to try to fix it. This was a very rare occurrence and they had never seen it happen to a baby before.
He had one unsuccessful surgery. They placed a drain in his spine, similar to when you get an epidural, but a layer beneath that. This was supposed to provide the fluid another path to drain from to hopefully relieve pressure on his ear. This was unsuccessful because the fluid did not let up from his ear at all like they had hoped. So they scheduled his next surgery.
They had to test his hearing because this surgery involved removing the entire inner ear and they wanted to be sure he had already lost hearing (which they suspected he did) before they went thru with the surgery. They confirmed his right ear was permanently damaged which was sad but it meant we could go thru with the next surgery which they felt more confident would work.
He had his surgery Friday the 28th and is still recovering. They had him on a morphine IV because he was in agony and wouldnt stop crying.
The next day and everyday after, things seemed to be improving. He is completely off morphine and sleeping and eating normally. However, his surgery has also affected his sense of balance so he will need physical therapy to relearn head control, sitting up, etc. He has been doing great relearning already. He sits up better than he did before each day. We haven't noticed anything leak from his ear and we thought we were in the clear.
Monday December 1st they removed the drain from his spine and sent his spinal fluid for testing. They found white blood cells in his spinal fluid indicating an infection was there (meningitis). This was caused due to the spinal leak leaving an open pathway to his brain.
Now we are looking at being here another 14 days to treat his infection. We remain hopeful that he will pull thru this.
We rushed him to Franklin Square where they confirmed it was spinal fluid from his brain and a CT scan showed he also had air bubbles in his brain. From there we were rushed to Johns Hopkins via an ambulance. They had specialists there more qualified to handle this.
We do not know what caused this. No doctor has been able to tell us the cause. Because of not knowing how it happened it was a trial and error to try to fix it. This was a very rare occurrence and they had never seen it happen to a baby before.
He had one unsuccessful surgery. They placed a drain in his spine, similar to when you get an epidural, but a layer beneath that. This was supposed to provide the fluid another path to drain from to hopefully relieve pressure on his ear. This was unsuccessful because the fluid did not let up from his ear at all like they had hoped. So they scheduled his next surgery.
They had to test his hearing because this surgery involved removing the entire inner ear and they wanted to be sure he had already lost hearing (which they suspected he did) before they went thru with the surgery. They confirmed his right ear was permanently damaged which was sad but it meant we could go thru with the next surgery which they felt more confident would work.
He had his surgery Friday the 28th and is still recovering. They had him on a morphine IV because he was in agony and wouldnt stop crying.
The next day and everyday after, things seemed to be improving. He is completely off morphine and sleeping and eating normally. However, his surgery has also affected his sense of balance so he will need physical therapy to relearn head control, sitting up, etc. He has been doing great relearning already. He sits up better than he did before each day. We haven't noticed anything leak from his ear and we thought we were in the clear.
Monday December 1st they removed the drain from his spine and sent his spinal fluid for testing. They found white blood cells in his spinal fluid indicating an infection was there (meningitis). This was caused due to the spinal leak leaving an open pathway to his brain.
Now we are looking at being here another 14 days to treat his infection. We remain hopeful that he will pull thru this.
Unfortunately our stay here has put us behind in bills and we still have no idea what expenses lie ahead for Silas. Anyone who knows us know that we have never asked for help finacially from anyone our entire lives. We have always prided ourselves on doing everything on our own. It is embarassing to admit we have reached the point where we have $3 in our bank account.
Parking, food and gas to go back and forth to do laundry and feed our cat on top of our rent to the apartment we worked so hard to have on our own (amoung other bills). Its just so overwhelming at this point. I know everyone has been so supportive and asking if they can help. We will be so greatful to you even if all you can spare is a $1 it still means the world.
We are so thankful for the people in our lives who have done so much already. Its been comforting to have such a blanket of love. You really don't know how much your messages, texts, and posts have inspired us to keep going another day. This is what life is all about. <3
Anything extra after bills 100% will go to Silas for his medical needs and also to give him a nice Christmas because Christmas isn't looking so bright for us and we have already spent Thanksgiving here.
We remain positive and Silas has been a joy through everything. Always smiling every day. He is literally the strongest person I know and he's only 8 months old. His spirit keeps us going.
Remember to follow this story by searching for #TeamSilas on facebook. We are always posting updates.
Parking, food and gas to go back and forth to do laundry and feed our cat on top of our rent to the apartment we worked so hard to have on our own (amoung other bills). Its just so overwhelming at this point. I know everyone has been so supportive and asking if they can help. We will be so greatful to you even if all you can spare is a $1 it still means the world.
We are so thankful for the people in our lives who have done so much already. Its been comforting to have such a blanket of love. You really don't know how much your messages, texts, and posts have inspired us to keep going another day. This is what life is all about. <3
Anything extra after bills 100% will go to Silas for his medical needs and also to give him a nice Christmas because Christmas isn't looking so bright for us and we have already spent Thanksgiving here.
We remain positive and Silas has been a joy through everything. Always smiling every day. He is literally the strongest person I know and he's only 8 months old. His spirit keeps us going.
Remember to follow this story by searching for #TeamSilas on facebook. We are always posting updates.
Organizer
LeiLani LaRue Turpen
Organizer
Essex, MD
