Sebastian Normington's Fight
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Hi everyone,
I have set this up on behalf of Sarah, Steve and Seb to help with medical expenses and flights as this has been an expensive time for the family
-Chris B
The post below was written by Steve, Sebs Father.
Some of you know, but most of you don't, so I wanted to write a post to update everyone on what has been happening in the most difficult week (so far) of my life.
On Sunday the 29th of May, my beautiful 8 year old son Sebastian collapsed without any warning. He was rushed to the Launceston General Hospital where they took blood tests and ran some CT scans to find out why he had collapsed.
Sebastian had suffered a ruptured Aneurysm which caused a significant bleed in his brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage). It was now critical for him to be flown to the Royal Hobart Hospital and be placed in to an induced coma, have emergency brain surgery to clip and remove the aneurysm, remove the blood from the bleed as well as place a drainage tube in to help drain the cerebrospinal fluid which had blood mixed in with it.
Sebastian survived this surgery, but now the immediate problem was Intra-cranial Pressure (ICP) which is caused by swelling of the brain from the initial bleed. Sebastian needed further surgery to place another drainage tube in to the other side of his brain as the ICP was increasing on the other side of his brain.
High pressures in the brain mean that blood can not circulate properly through the brain, and if the blood pressure is not strong enough to overcome the Intra-cranial Pressure, the parts of the brain that don't receive enough blood will die.
On Tuesday Sebastian's ICP's on the the damaged side of his brain approached a dangerous level and the only option was to take Sebastian to surgery, once again, for a craniectomy (Removal of a portion of skull bone to allow the brain room to swell).
Sebastian, being the tough kid he is, survived surgery again. The craniectomy had relieved pressure greatly on that side of his brain, although the procedure itself has some risks.
I landed that night in Hobart after flying from Perth WA and Sebastians Mum Sarah Normington and her Aunty took me directly to the Royal Hobart Hospital to visit Sebastian, the poor little man laying helpless in an induce Coma, hooked up to multitudes of IV's, infusion pumps and monitors in the ICU. I let him know Daddy is here to watch over him while he fights his battle and spent some time with him while the nurses worked closely with him. I said goodnight to him and headed off to get some sleep as there was a meeting with the Neurosurgeon and Consultants in the morning.
At 0730 the next morning came disheartening news. Sebastian's ICP was rising to worrying levels on the good side of his brain. Sarah and I were told we had 2 options, we could perform another craniectomy to remove more bone from the other side of his head to allow the good side of his brain to swell, but in doing so cause significant damage to the good side of brain from allowing the entire brain to swell out so much it would stretch and cause other issues, and basically there would not be much left of Sebastian if he recovered. Or we could leave him as he is and let nature take its course. If his ICP's increased much more, he would suffer brain death and pass away. I had never imagined needing to make a decision like that. Sarah and I decided we wanted Sebastian back, and not a shell of a person, and the neurosurgeon was also not wanting to do this surgery. I can not begin to imagine how to explain how it feels to wait to see if your child survives after there's nothing left that can be done but wait and hope.
Wednesday night, Sebastian's ICPs began to come down. Sebastian survived yet again, Barely. He still isn't stable at this point but he's still here. We can hold his hand and talk quietly to him for another day.
Thursday. Sebastian is now battling Pneumonia as a result of some vomit that he had inhaled during the initial collapse and trip to Royal Hobart Hospital. The ICU team are working around the clock to stabilise him and try to avoid further complications so he is able to lay flat long enough tor an MRI to assess the condition of his Brain. Evidence of Septic shock at this point was becoming evident and blood pressure as well as Oxygen saturation are now a problem as Sebastian was not absorbing enough oxygen in to his blood. The main concern of his ICP's was improving now, allowing the ICU staff to begin working on the secondary problems of Blood pressure, pneumonia and septic shock
Friday, Sebastian is Stabilising, he is on medications to help his blood pressure and the nurses are able to move him a little more to clear his chest. Antibiotics are starting to take effect to help clear him of Pneumonia and other medications are being Administered for the septic shock.
Today (Yesterday now, late night post) Sebastian is physically Stable. His main sedating medications have been switched off, and his blood pressure, and oxygen saturation are stable, his septic shock appears mostly clear and physically he is stable enough to be taken for an MRI.
That brings me to right now, there's nothing in the world I would love more than for Sebastian to wake up and say "Dad" or "Mum" or "Nan" or even just open his eyes and look at us. We don't know if he ever will. about 7 hours from now he will have his MRI scan and find out as much as we can about how much of Sebastian is left in that intelligent brain of his, or if there's any Sebastian coming back to us at all.
We have had incredible support from friends and family in this tough time, even new friends along the way who have been amazing. The team at the Royal Hobart Hospital has also been an amazing group of people looking after little Seb.
I ask that you all please spare a thought and/or prayer for Sebastian and if you have children of your own please give them an extra hug and remember that life is fragile no matter how careful you are.
Could I ask if you could all think and pray for the little man.
I have set this up on behalf of Sarah, Steve and Seb to help with medical expenses and flights as this has been an expensive time for the family
-Chris B
The post below was written by Steve, Sebs Father.
Some of you know, but most of you don't, so I wanted to write a post to update everyone on what has been happening in the most difficult week (so far) of my life.
On Sunday the 29th of May, my beautiful 8 year old son Sebastian collapsed without any warning. He was rushed to the Launceston General Hospital where they took blood tests and ran some CT scans to find out why he had collapsed.
Sebastian had suffered a ruptured Aneurysm which caused a significant bleed in his brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage). It was now critical for him to be flown to the Royal Hobart Hospital and be placed in to an induced coma, have emergency brain surgery to clip and remove the aneurysm, remove the blood from the bleed as well as place a drainage tube in to help drain the cerebrospinal fluid which had blood mixed in with it.
Sebastian survived this surgery, but now the immediate problem was Intra-cranial Pressure (ICP) which is caused by swelling of the brain from the initial bleed. Sebastian needed further surgery to place another drainage tube in to the other side of his brain as the ICP was increasing on the other side of his brain.
High pressures in the brain mean that blood can not circulate properly through the brain, and if the blood pressure is not strong enough to overcome the Intra-cranial Pressure, the parts of the brain that don't receive enough blood will die.
On Tuesday Sebastian's ICP's on the the damaged side of his brain approached a dangerous level and the only option was to take Sebastian to surgery, once again, for a craniectomy (Removal of a portion of skull bone to allow the brain room to swell).
Sebastian, being the tough kid he is, survived surgery again. The craniectomy had relieved pressure greatly on that side of his brain, although the procedure itself has some risks.
I landed that night in Hobart after flying from Perth WA and Sebastians Mum Sarah Normington and her Aunty took me directly to the Royal Hobart Hospital to visit Sebastian, the poor little man laying helpless in an induce Coma, hooked up to multitudes of IV's, infusion pumps and monitors in the ICU. I let him know Daddy is here to watch over him while he fights his battle and spent some time with him while the nurses worked closely with him. I said goodnight to him and headed off to get some sleep as there was a meeting with the Neurosurgeon and Consultants in the morning.
At 0730 the next morning came disheartening news. Sebastian's ICP was rising to worrying levels on the good side of his brain. Sarah and I were told we had 2 options, we could perform another craniectomy to remove more bone from the other side of his head to allow the good side of his brain to swell, but in doing so cause significant damage to the good side of brain from allowing the entire brain to swell out so much it would stretch and cause other issues, and basically there would not be much left of Sebastian if he recovered. Or we could leave him as he is and let nature take its course. If his ICP's increased much more, he would suffer brain death and pass away. I had never imagined needing to make a decision like that. Sarah and I decided we wanted Sebastian back, and not a shell of a person, and the neurosurgeon was also not wanting to do this surgery. I can not begin to imagine how to explain how it feels to wait to see if your child survives after there's nothing left that can be done but wait and hope.
Wednesday night, Sebastian's ICPs began to come down. Sebastian survived yet again, Barely. He still isn't stable at this point but he's still here. We can hold his hand and talk quietly to him for another day.
Thursday. Sebastian is now battling Pneumonia as a result of some vomit that he had inhaled during the initial collapse and trip to Royal Hobart Hospital. The ICU team are working around the clock to stabilise him and try to avoid further complications so he is able to lay flat long enough tor an MRI to assess the condition of his Brain. Evidence of Septic shock at this point was becoming evident and blood pressure as well as Oxygen saturation are now a problem as Sebastian was not absorbing enough oxygen in to his blood. The main concern of his ICP's was improving now, allowing the ICU staff to begin working on the secondary problems of Blood pressure, pneumonia and septic shock
Friday, Sebastian is Stabilising, he is on medications to help his blood pressure and the nurses are able to move him a little more to clear his chest. Antibiotics are starting to take effect to help clear him of Pneumonia and other medications are being Administered for the septic shock.
Today (Yesterday now, late night post) Sebastian is physically Stable. His main sedating medications have been switched off, and his blood pressure, and oxygen saturation are stable, his septic shock appears mostly clear and physically he is stable enough to be taken for an MRI.
That brings me to right now, there's nothing in the world I would love more than for Sebastian to wake up and say "Dad" or "Mum" or "Nan" or even just open his eyes and look at us. We don't know if he ever will. about 7 hours from now he will have his MRI scan and find out as much as we can about how much of Sebastian is left in that intelligent brain of his, or if there's any Sebastian coming back to us at all.
We have had incredible support from friends and family in this tough time, even new friends along the way who have been amazing. The team at the Royal Hobart Hospital has also been an amazing group of people looking after little Seb.
I ask that you all please spare a thought and/or prayer for Sebastian and if you have children of your own please give them an extra hug and remember that life is fragile no matter how careful you are.
Could I ask if you could all think and pray for the little man.
Organizer
Sarah Normington
Organizer
South Launceston, TAS