Broken....

Who says you can't use apple sauce as hair gel?

So, I have a broken little boy and no one knows how to fix him! I know I just posted an AWESOME blog a few days ago...well, once the steroids and antibiotics wear off, we're always back to square one...broken! :(
Jaime was back to the pulmonologist today. We initially went for his wheezing and cough, but discovered that his tonsils are so swollen that they're touching each other and his uvula (that gross thing that hangs in the back of your throat). We were told that when he coughs it irritates his tonsils causing them to swell more, which then makes him cough more which in the end puts him in respiratory distress. It's just one vicious cycle. His left ear is also working on being infected, it's red and swollen, but the tubes are still in and working. No one knows for sure as to why he keeps having so many ENT issues. Jaime had an immunity panel drawn today. The NP told us that the final results would take at least a week to come back, if there was anything funky, she'd call. Otherwise we'll go over everything when we go back in two weeks.
In the meantime, Jaime is going back on steroids...he'll be on a big dose for 5 days, then a smaller dose every other day indefinitely. He is also going on a Z-pack which is a 5 day antibiotic...in addition to that, ENT is most likely going to put him on a 3 week dose of Penicillin. He is also to get breathing treatments (Xopenex) every 4 hours and Flovent (a maintenance inhaler) bumped up to 8 doses a day from 4. Something's gotta start to work for this boy. Jaime's pharmacist and I were talking tonight about how many antibiotics he's been on. When he's not on them, he gets sick, when he is on them, he's awesome. We're just worried about his liver and kidneys...you know as the antibiotics continue.
Having said that...Jaime just sees the medicine syringe and starts to gag. After Walgreens, we went through the drive-thru of Steak and Shake for milkshakes in the ice cold weather...we got Jaime (and Jared) banana milkshakes. Jaime had drank 1/2 of a jr. shake in the car. I'm sure it felt great on his throat...we were advised to try and give him super cold things for the swelling...he's not a fan of much cold, but this he LOVED! We get home with all of his new meds, I fill the syringe with his first dose of antibiotics, I put it near him...he gags and throws up all of the milkshake that he just drank. I'm sure that killed his throat. After he threw up, he went back to almost finishing it, but refused his medication. So, here we go again. I'm hoping that the ENT will allow him to get a Penicillin shot rather than medication, but we'll see. I just don't see how we can physically get all of this medication into him.
Anyway, that's the latest scoop! Here are some pics we took from the 12th floor of our hospital room today. Kind of an interesting view of Cleveland...mostly just the Cleveland Clinic Campus...that place is HUGE! :)



Before I go, I'll share Jaime's stats with you...He is get this...just slightly over 25lbs...that was taken fully dressed with a wet diaper, but the steroids make him "puffy" so I'm thinking it's pretty accurate. He was also measured at 33 1/2 inches tall. That explains why some of Christmas pants are "floods" on him! ;) His O2 sats were in the low 90's before his breathing treatment, but went up to 97% after. So, in the growth department, he's doing well. (OK, one positive to steroids...I just hope we don't see any crazy side effects down the road from them.)

Time to go...it's a chilly, icy one...for those of you affected by the storm, be safe! I'm thinking tomorrow is going to be a snow day again for Jared. Good night, all! :)