Thalamic Storms

Brody's agitation has been increasing throughout the day. The assumption was that his belly was hurting due to gas or stool. We've been actively treating for that, but his agitation level has not come down. Then, as Brody was having one of his spells, the Resident Doctor stood and watched. He seemed to be in deep thought and quickly left to go find the PICU Attending Physician. A few of them rallied around for a few minutes and concluded that Brody's agitation has nothing to do with his belly. But rather his brain. They call it Thalamic Storms. I don't know much about it. It was described to me as sudden and often severe spells of high blood pressure, increased heart rate, hypothermia or fever, and general signs of pain. Basically, the brain tricks the nervous system into responding as if there is severe pain or trauma. However, the body doesn't actually feel pain at all. Strange, I know. And this condition is likely permanent...but manageable. Typically, you respond to these "storms" with sedatives to get the brain to ease up on the nervous system. The Attending said that they absolutely will not release us until we get to the bottom of this and find someway to manage these "storms". I will try to find more info on Thalamic Storms and update the blog as soon as I do.