Can’t Catch a Break!

This poor kid! We’ve landed ourselves in the hospital again. His pulmonologist said to bring him in if his symptoms didn’t get better. We brought him in on Tuesday morning. You would think by now, I would pack a “just in case” bag, but I really didn’t think we would be staying. Wrong.

On day two, after all the lab work ups, x-rays, and an ultrasound, Sam has two different tracheitis’ and rotavirus. His medical team and I were actually happy for the rotavirus diagnosis and not something more serious. It’s always nice to have an answer and not continue, what feels like, the guessing game.

He’s being treated for the tracheitis’ and they want to rest his tummy for a few days with IV fluids. He’s still miserable, but I am confident it won’t last too long. Hopefully, we can bust this joint in the next day or two. Hospital stays do not get easier the more you have.

On a side note, his dilation went well last week. He did need to be dilated, BUT his surgeon said we could start planning Cincinnati!!!

Thanks for praying for our sweet little boy and the rest of our family.

Sam Strong!

We’re home, but...

...there are more curve balls.

Overall, Sam is doing good. We are both happy to be home. There was a day when the hospital felt like home to Sam and almost for me, but that feels like a very long time ago. Thankfully we were only there for one night.

One thing I’ve learned living in this small world of a mentally complex child for the past four years is, when there’s more than one type of doctor in your child‘s room giving you news, it’s probably not going to be good.

And it wasn’t.

The hospitalist, a pulmonologist, Sam’s gastroenterologist, and his main surgeon were in the room. Let’s just say the hospitalist was not a young buck. She had clearly been practicing medicine for a very long time. When the conversation was over, and she said, “Wow, I’ve learned A LOT today!”, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I laughed, of course.

Sam did not need a dilation. There was a much bigger problem found. Basically, Sam’s stomach is in his esophagus and the rest of his gastrointestinal organs are pushing up into his chest. Sam’s gastroenterologist was able to fix the problem temporarily using the scope.

He won’t be able to have his airway surgery in Cincinnati yet. We have A LOT to figure out between Sam’s doctors here and Cincinnati.

We are hoping the temporary fix will stay until we decide what the next best steps for Sam will be.

Don’t worry, as always, Sam will knock this curve ball out of the park! Making it to first base will just fine too.

Sam Strong!

Faith Over Fear!

There’s no place like home.

Curve Balls...

...are a constant when it comes to Sam.

We are now less than two weeks away from surgery.

He’s been having some rough days off and on. His docs had put him on all the stuff a few days ago as a precautionary until surgery. Usually the stuff kicks in fast.

Tonight got tough.

After a phone call, his pulmonologist wanted us to bring him in. No, he’s fine. He’s been much more sick than this and we’ve kept him home. “Do you think he needs a dilation?”, she asked. “Yeah, that’s what I’m starting to think.”, I responded. She ends our conversation with, “I’m sorry.”

She knows. She knows what Sam’s been through. She knows what we’ve been through. She’s knows it better than most. She knows it’s not easy to pack him up and bring him in. She knows he’s likely okay to stay home.

She’s right though. She also knows if he’s inpatient, it will be A LOT easier and faster to get him into the operating room.

She knows his surgery got canceled a few weeks ago. She knows his surgery is rescheduled in less than two weeks.

She called me back before we left our house. “I talked to Dr. Surgeon and Dr. Gastroenterologist. [They both have names, but I like to be respectful of their privacy.] They said between the two of them, they will get Sam on the OR schedule in the morning.”

We are now sitting in the Emergency Room, waiting for a room upstairs. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. When you are in the hospital, there is so much waiting. Covid makes the wait even longer.

The lV is in without too much effort. Whew. Sam isn’t always the easiest poke. Although if you could hear him cry, they would have probably heard him a few rooms down. It’s sure a lot more heart braking to watch your child scream, but no sound comes out. It’s something you never really get use to.

Maybe I’ll get some sleep tonight. I just need a little.

He’s sleeping now. That’s all that matters.

Now I know I’m not the only one praying for my family and my sweet little boy.

Tomorrow I will have good news for you.

Surgery and Then Some

Overall Sam's surgeries went well. The second surgery was a bit more invasive than we expected, but with a few restrictions, he was back at school the next day.

Recovery has gone well for the most part. We had to keep an eye on some bleeding, but thankfully that subsided.

About a week ago he started more secretions and then retched (threw up) the entire night. After making a call to surgery, we were advised to have Sam be seen either by his pediatrician or take him to the ED (Emergency Department). In order to avoid the ED, I was on the horn at exactly 7:30 that morning as soon as the clinic opened. Sam's pediatrician wasn't there, but we were able to see another pediatrician who also sees complex kids. So glad we were able to avoid the ED.

A small recap that morning...

Get the report from the night nurse on Sam's night after we finally got him to sleep again around 3:00am. Check the discharge paperwork to see the section on, "When to Call the Doctor". Call the doctor. Bummer...the doctor said to get him into his pediatrician or if were not able, go to the ED. Give the report to the day nurse coming on. Oh yeah, a new nurse is training today. Great day for that. Oh well, it will be good experience for her. Try to keep a smile on my face as introduce myself to the new nurse and hopefully make her feel welcomed. Wake Will and Abby up for school. Make lunches. Eventually tell Will he'll have to wear dirty socks to school after he, to no avail searched for clean ones. Take Will and Abby to school. Take a shower. Throw in a load of laundry. Run to the store to get Pedialyte since Sam couldn't tolerate his formula overnight. Throw the load of laundry in the dryer. Double check we have all five bags. Buckle Sam in his carseat. Whew! All that in only a few hours! Only twelve minutes later than when we wanted to leave! We did it! Nice work ladies!

Seeing someone who doesn't know Sam was a bit interesting. After some discussion and me giving the pediatrician a very small dose of Sam's medical history, he checked out Sam's surgery area. I knew as soon as he started fumbling over his words, he was concerned. He danced around his words until I stepped in and helped him finish what he was trying to say, "So, you think we need to get an ultrasound." He shook his head saying yes. His concern was on the left side. Sometimes I wish there could be something in Sam's charts that could forewarn medical personnel not to sugar coat things for me. It's been over the three years now and I know when doctors are giving concerning or difficult news. I wish something said, "She can handle the hard stuff and won't freak out. Give it to her straight."

Surgery met us in the ultrasound room. Knowing Sam well and his history from the beginning, she was ear to ear smiles to see how well Sam was doing overall. She also had a good chuckle when the ultrasound tech shared there was a hematoma on the left side which wasn't too concerning, but there was a small hernia on the ride side. The reason surgery had a chuckle is because she thought it was a classic Sam move to have a little twist in his story.At the end of the day, the retching was likely related to a cold Sam was brewing, which I also had to explain to the pediatrician after the ultrasound. I reassured him the throwing up wasn't something we would have brought Sam in for otherwise. We brought Sam because it was so close to surgery and they wanted to be sure the retching wasn't surgery related. I explained the retching is unfortunately the nature of Sam when he gets a cold.

With an extra boost of nebs, or twelve nebulizer treatments, four times a day, Sam seems to have fought off the cold. Thank goodness!

Admitted.

In the two and a half years Sam has been home from the hospital, we have made many trips to the emergency department (ED). In those two and a half years, we've always been able to go home, which according to everyone here is just shy of a miracle given Sam's history. Although we love the people here, we do everything we can to stay out of here.

Unfortunately, there isn't a clinic or urgent care for Sam. When things go south, it's either maintain at home or go to the hospital. And unless Sam's feeding tube comes out or one of his docs wants him to be evaluated, we do our best to maintain at home.

Poor buddy isn’t feeling so great.

Based off Sam's symptoms, Sam's GI (gastroenterologist) doc instructed us to take him in yesterday. I was a little shocked when the ED doc thought it would be best to keep him. I, of course, did not plan for getting admitted. No extra clothes or toothbrush for me. I feel like I have to keep apologizing for my stinkiness. 😂

I thought once Sam got some IV fluids in him, he would perk up and we'd be heading home. Not so much. He's still the same little lethargic boy we brought here yesterday. He's not worse, but not better either.

Even after fluids, he’s still not feeling so hot.

They are checking all the boxes and are trying to figure out what's going on. It could be tracheitis, which doesn't show up for twenty-four to seventy-two hours. He might need another dilation. It could be just a cold. Although, like I've said in the past, it's never "just a cold" for Sam. There are plenty of places he could have caught something. The two biggies are starting school and being in the ED last week cause his feeding tube came out. School = germs and the ED = even scarier germs. They are also monitoring his blood pressure as it has been elevated. With his history of hypertension, there is concern, but they could also be up because he's sick. Again, there are so many things it could be. There are usually no easy answers with Sam. He a complicated kid.

Let's pray whatever it is, it will run it's course and/or get fixed without complications. As of now, he needs to tolerate feeds before we go home.

As always, staying Sam Strong.