Parker's Lung Problem

I had mentioned that infants with ADA have a tendency to have problems with other organs due to the toxins in their body. Parker does seem to have a problem with his lungs. He has been on oxygen since he was two weeks old. Originally the doctors in Scarborough thought he may had pneumonia or another infection that caused rapid breathing and a constant need for oxygen.

This was what brought us to Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The fact that Parker was not getting any better. He was constantly breathing 60-80 times per minute when the average number of breaths for an infant should be in the low 40s. As a way to locate Parkers lung infection the respirologists recommended a BAL and lung biopsy.

The BAL is conducted by placing a tube in Parker's trachea into his lungs where about 2mL of saline solution is placed into his lungs and then sucked back up. The result is fluid that can then be tested for a number of viruses and bacteria. After looking at the fluid it was suggested that Parker did not have an infection. What a relief that was.

The lung biopsy came back not as positive. Parker was diagnosed with a rare lung disease that normally id s found in adults. The disorder is called Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis. This disorder has recently been found to linked to ADA.