Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

Monday, April 19

The genetic tests for surfactant protein deficiencies which were sent to the Mayo Clinic all came back negative!  This means that the best diagnosis for Trey's condition remains chronic lung disease, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).  The following article explains this condition futher.  If you've read our blog from the beginning you will recognize many of the treatments mentioned as the NICU doctors here have been treating Trey for this condition from the beginning.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/bpd.html#

Trey continues to be a fussy baby from time to time.  His small outbursts have recently been labeled 'BPD Spells'.  These are common in infants with chronic lung disease.  Today Trey had difficulty calming down which we attributed mostly to his discomfort on the nasal cpap.  He was trialed on high-flow oxygen for three hours, but in the end he was placed back on nasal cpap, which delivers a more appropriate level of support.  We hope to try again with high flow but he needs to spend another week or so growing and becoming stronger.  Unfortunately that may require extra medicine in order to keep in calm.  For now we take it day by day and hope that he continues to grow stronger and stronger despite his discomfort.

Stella continues to do well.  She kept Daddy up until 2 am last night, so thankfully she's now asleep!