[tri-med] Re: Sleep Apnea

Hi Katie,

First of all the best measurement of blood for carbon dioxide is from an 
artery. (arterial blood) This is kind of nasty because you can't see an 
artery and they are deep inside. The dr's always took Annie's art. blood 
from somewhere just above her wrist. Another blood test for carbon dioxide 
is capillary blood. This is a (nice) non-invasive blood test. They prick the 
heal and draw the blood through a very skinny glass "straw" They touch this 
glass straw to the blood drop and it just gets sucked in.

The whole idea is to get a picture of the carbon dioxide level in the blood 
after it leaves the heart, and before the oxygenated blood gets used up, and 
turns into carbon dioxide. That is why the typical blood work, venous blood, 
is not the best indicator.

I think carbon dioxide can be high for many reasons but certainly one of 
them is because the child is not ventilating properly (ie exhausting 
effectively) One reason for this is that the trachea has a narrowing in it. 
That is what Annie had. An effective respiratory management to that is to 
change the CPAP to BIPAP. This gives 2 levels of pressure and aids in 
ventilation.

IF you have some results of Mitchells blood work, you might want to check 
the ph levels. If the carbon dioxide levels are high for a long period of 
time, the kidneys lose the ability to neutralize the acid in the blood 
caused by the carbon dioxide. Then, the ph is less than normal and the child 
is even sleepier. (respiratory acidosis)

It is a very difficult and complex area (to me anyway) but I am continuously 
working on trying to understand it better in order to answer the question 
about what happened to my baby.

Hope this helps.
Barb
Mom to Annie


From: Katie Cragg <kmcragg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: <tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [tri-med] Re: Sleep Apnea
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:55:35 -0600

Barb
Thanks, what do you do if it is that?


On 12/21/05 7:30 PM, "Barbara Farlow" <b_farlow@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

 > Katie,
 > Just a thought, but how is Mitchell's carbon dioxide levels? Annie had
 > shallow breathing apnea. They just called it central, but I believe it 
was
 > related to the fact that her carbon dioxide level were double the upper
 > limit of normal all her life. The sleepy feeling from the carbon dioxide 
can
 > cause apnea
 > Barb
 > Mom to Annie may25-Aug 12
 >
 >
 > From: Katie Cragg <kmcragg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
 > Reply-To: tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 > To: <tri-med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
 > Subject: [tri-med] Re: Sleep Apnea
 > Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:22:33 -0600
 >
 > Laurie,
 > Oops...type-o
 > Www.caringbridge.org/mn/mitchelljohncragg
 > This should work. Sorry
 >
 > Mitchell JUST had an MRI done and it came back perfect! It was such good
 > news even though we still don't really what in the brain is causing his
 > apnea. At least we know structurally that his brain is "normal"
 > I'm confused, if they think it is obstructive, why are they doing an MRI?
 > Mitchell was born w/a cleft lip and palate--had them both repaired in
 > September. Why does he think that the palate repair is causing it? Did it
 > just start after the repair? I know it is frustrating....we are still 
trying
 > to figure out Mitchell's apnea.
 > Katie
 >
 >
 >
 > On 12/21/05 6:35 PM, "TRIER9@xxxxxxx" <TRIER9@xxxxxxx> wrote:
 >
 >> In a message dated 12/21/05 4:11:06 PM Pacific Standard Time,
 >> kmcragg@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
 >>
 >>> Www.caringbridge.org/mn/mitchelljohnceagg
 >>
 >> btw, Katie.....I tried to see Mitchell on the above site, but it does 
not
 >> work....
 >> Happy Holidays!
 >> Laurie
 >> Proud Mom to Brianna, age 16 w/Trisomy 9p/21 translocation, Brandon, age
 > 13
 >> Marissa, age 7 with Cerebral Palsy and SOD, and new baby Kayla w/Trisomy
 > 21
 >>
 >>
 >>                   Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
 >>                        www.trisomyonline.org
 >>                   Families Helping Families On-line
 >>
 >
 >
 >                    Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
 >                         www.trisomyonline.org
 >                    Families Helping Families On-line
 >
 >
 >                   Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
 >                        www.trisomyonline.org
 >                   Families Helping Families On-line
 >


                   Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                        www.trisomyonline.org
                   Families Helping Families On-line


                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

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