Apologies that this post is a little bit later than intended, but as promised, we’re back with some updates on the results of Cora’s recent MRI. 

The past week been a little bit of a health care rollercoaster, beginning last Sunday, when we noticed Cora had developed a bit of a cough, but since it’s the depths of Minnesota winter and she does attend daycare, we assumed it was just a regular course of the sniffles, or a lingering effect from the sickness she’d had the week prior. Unfortunately, on Monday, our daycare provider called to tell us that Cora was doing a bit of belly breathing, and they were concerned, but not panicked - just wanted to keep us informed. 

However, as Andrea headed to pick up Cora, daycare called again to say that her breathing was worse - she was struggling and groaning with each inhalation. So we hightailed it down to a sadly familiar place, the Masonic Children’s Hospital ER, where Cora made a big impression on the admitting doctor by coughing so hard that she threw up all over the floor… and all over his shoes. We headed back to a room where other doctors and nurses listened to her breathing and determined right away that she needed to be put on oxygen support, which turned out to be a prescient move, as a bunch of tests revealed that Cora unfortunately had a nasty case of RSV. So we headed upstairs to a room and prepared to hunker down for the next few days, with a treatment plan of continued High-Flow oxygen support (which is heated, humidified, and pressurized oxygen through a nasal cannula), steroids, and routine nose and chest suctioning. 

At the same time this was all happening, we were also due to get the results from Cora’s recent MRI. Quickly switching our visit with Dr. Jagadeesan to a virtual one, Andrea received a phone call on Tuesday letting us know that the scans revealed an area of concern, a potential reactivation of one part of the Vein of Galen that meant blood flow might be resuming to her malformation. The resident who called impressed on us that an exploratory surgery to get better imaging, with a potential to embolize this area if it indeed was active, was our best course of action. A flurry of follow-up phone calls ensued and suddenly we had another surgery date - February 22nd.

It really didn’t feel like the wonderful start to 2024 that we had hoped for, Cora already sitting in the hospital struggling with a case of RSV and another surgery on the horizon less than a month away. 

But then Wednesday swooped in with several massive victories that really brought us back. First, Cora was finally responding to oxygen support and suctioning, and nurses started giving us glowing reports of clear-sounding lungs. Even we could tell she was starting to feel better as she regained her appetite, and her smiles. By midday the respiratory care team was able to come in to take off the oxygen support and she (and we!) could finally see her encumbered face again. 

Second, Dr. Jagadeesan called us back to let us know that a second, previously unavailable set of images had come in from Cora’s MRI. After this new review, he suspected that the area in question was actually being highlighted incorrectly by the contrast dye used in Cora’s MRI. The dye works by highlighting both areas of active blood flow (which would be a concern that Cora’s VOGM was reactivating) as well as clotted veins with residue of previous blood flow - which Cora has a lot of from her previous embolizations. In this case, Dr. Jagadeesan thought that the dye was highlighting the latter and not the former, and he didn’t want to put Cora through a potentially unnecessary surgery so soon after her last procedure. So, in addition to celebrating an earlier-than-anticipated discharge from the hospital late Wednesday night, we also got to officially cancel Cora’s February 22nd surgery date, and we now have a plan to come back for further imaging in the summer.

It’s not a perfect report, and there’s still a potential that this area in her VOGM does end up reactivating and requiring surgery. But for now we’re just going to take the first wins of 2024 and enjoy our time at home, not in hospitals, with a once-again happy and healthy Cora Bean.