When Brett was in the hospital, he was told that he had chronic sinusitis and that it could have been a contributing factor in him developing meningitis. He has had clear discharge from his nose almost as long as he can remember, so hearing this was no surprise. We had always thought it was allergies and tried to pin down the source, but to no avail.
A couple weeks ago he went to an ENT and to make a long story short, he does not have chronic sinusitis or allergies, but rather a spinal fluid leak somewhere in his sinuses!! He will be having a minor surgery sometime soon...I hope very very soon...to patch the leak.
Of course there is no way to know exactly how long all the bacteria in his nose has had a direct route into his spine, but it has probably been that way for quite a while. A leak is usually caused by some kind of head trauma and we have no idea what could have caused Brett's. It is actually quite amazing that he has not had meningitis before now. He is currently on some antibiotics which should reduce the possibility of the infection reoccurring until the leak is fixed.
While on the one hand it is disturbing to think that he has had this condition for a long time and we were not aware of it, on the other it is a bit comforting to know how he contracted the meningitis.
We are thankful that the doctor discovered this and that we have the technology available to fix it. We do not know when the surgery will be, but I will try to keep updating. We are so thankful for everyone's prayers!
I will pray! Sending love from Norway!
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