‘One in a million chance.’ Sinus infection leads to brain surgery for local teenage boy

RIRIE — A sophomore at Ririe Junior-Senior High School was fighting for his life after a sinus infection took a turn for the worse.

Hayden Hashagen, 16, became sick last month with a sinus infection caused by strep bacteria. As days progressed, his symptoms worsened. He ended up with a migraine, had fevers of nearly 104 degrees, was sleepier than normal and started having hallucinations.

On Feb. 27, Hayden went to the Emergency Room at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Imaging tests revealed he had multiple brain abscesses and his brain was inflamed from the infection. On top of that, the inflammation caused the blood to back up, resulting in a blood clot in his brain.

“Strep is a normal bug that lives in your nose and mouth. They say it’s a one in a million chance of getting this infection,” Mary Hashagen, Hayden’s mom, told EastIdahoNews.com. “Normally, it should stay in that nose area. It shouldn’t be able to get up inside the brain, so somehow it figured out or through impairment of the membranes due to inflammation, it found a way up into the brain.”

Hayden was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City on Feb. 28 where he underwent a 9.5-hour brain surgery. A surgeon went in to clear the infection and had to remove three bones from Hayden’s skull to do so. An ear, nose and throat doctor also operated on Hayden by cleaning out pus under his left cheek and eye.

“His brain was sitting in sacs of pus,” Hashagen explained. “The brain surgeon told us about how he had to open up from the top part of the left side of the head, take off the bone there, and then he had to go down to the bottom behind his ear and open up that area … and release the pressure.”

Hashagen said the surgery went well, but soon after Hayden started having seizures and developed cerebral salt-wasting. Hashagen explained this is when salt in the body drops and causes swelling. Medical professionals were worried Hayden’s brain would herniate from becoming so swollen and would push down into the brain stem.

“We were close to all that. We spent that day worried that he wasn’t going to wake up,” Hashagen recalls. “He started having more seizures Friday night and into Saturday. Those days were pretty bleak. Not sure where we were going to go or what would happen with him.”

But on Sunday morning, Hashagen and her husband, Josh, were told Hayden’s body was no longer doing the cerebral salt-wasting, his fevers were breaking and he was more awake. Hayden did suffer a stroke and has some brain damage, but his family says they have seen miracles.

“There was a major miracle on Sunday. We somehow crossed through this eye of the storm. He stabilized, so death wasn’t necessarily imminent,” Hashagen stated. “They (medical professionals) were hopeful that since he’s such a young guy that maybe through learning they could repair some (of the damage) through muscle memory and long-term therapy.”

Hashagen said the support from family and friends has helped their family during this difficult time. The Hashagens, who own Possibly Picasso in Idaho Falls, said there has been a “mass outpouring of love from everybody.”

“Hayden is one of those people that you can’t help but fall in love with,” Hashagen said. “He’s having a hard time. He misses everybody. He misses his friends. … It’s going to be a long road.”

It’s unclear exactly how long Hayden will remain in the hospital but his family can’t wait for him to get home. A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover unexpected financial costs. To learn more,click here.