Tag: Pseudomonas

Dilation #5 Update

Published on by Jamie Grant4 Comments

I suppose no news is good news, right? For the most part, yes.

Sam’s dilation went very well. His esophagus was very narrow, but not as narrow as the last time he got dilated. Good news!

Again, we wait. If symptoms begin, we call surgery and they get Sam on the schedule. Generally, his symptoms consist of retching (throwing up), which start to become more frequent and violent as time goes on. Eventually, he’s not able to control his secretions, so he spits a lot too. Basically, he still creates secretions (spit), but if his esophagus is narrow enough or closed, there is no other place for the secretions to go except out his mouth. This makes for a very nauseous little boy. Poor guy.

After Sam’s dilation, his surgeon discussed WHEN Sam is able to go three months without a dilation, then he’ll plan to get Sam on the schedule to look at his esophagus. If things look good and open, we wait again. When Sam can go for at least six months without a dilation then his surgeon will feel good about us planning another trip to Cincinnati to hopefully get his airway fixed.

Sam also had a granuloma cauterized or how I like to make it more visual for you, the extra skin on the hole in his throat, sizzled off by a fire pen. This went well too. Although, it was a lot to look at after. For the next week or so, we cleaned gross puss and what looked like black soot around his trach site. Yuck and again, poor guy! Thankfully, it all healed very nicely.

The day after Sam’s dilation he seemed like he was recovering well. When he woke up the next morning, things went south very quickly. He ended up with a tracheitis. He had a couple of very rough days. We were able to catch this right away and treat the nasty, airway bacterial infection. Along with our hard work and the antibiotic nebs, like magic, Sam was back to his lively self in no time. Thank you for home care nurses!

Except for the spitting. No, not another thing, little buddy. His demeanor was back to his norm, but he wouldn’t swallow his secretions. Per Surgery we should bring him in to be evaluated in the next couple of days, unless things got worse, which for Sam means going to the ED (Emergency Department). Not the dreaded ED. Besides him not swallowing his secretions, he seems totally fine. Sometimes I wish they had another place for complex kids to go in these situations.

The next day, after talking with Sam’s Pulmonologist, she too thought he should be evaluated. Bummer.

We had planned to take him in early the next morning, knowing the less busy times of the ED. Sam had different plans. Good plans! When he woke up, the spitting had stopped!!! Thank you Lord!!!

Sam has been back to his spunky self, continuing to teach us what life is all about.

Sam Strong!

Faith Over Fear!

A Solid Two Days

Published on by Jamie Grant9 Comments

I’m happy to report, Sam’s had two great days in a row! Sam is back to swooning all who enter the room. The rough days were due to ANOTHER infection brewing. Ugh. Darn hospitals. Thankfully, we caught and treated it quickly.

The bleeding is less. Although there is still differing of opinions on where the blood might be coming from, it’s not a huge concern right now. They are watching his hemoglobin levels, which have been overall good. If the blood continues, he will be simultaneously scoped by Pulmonology, ENT, GI, and Surgery, which we can come back for.

They have been able to control his blood pressure, with meds we can go home on, and he has been pooping. Today, for the first time in almost six weeks, he did not have any retching episodes! All good things!

The Care Conference could not have gone any better. It’s a bit emotionally overwhelming to sit in a room with several people who have played a role in saving Sam’s life the past four years. We have a good, solid plan that everyone was able to agree on. The tears were unavoidable as they thanked me for the role we’ve played at home, in caring for Sam. When they say, it takes a village, that might be an understatement when it comes to Sam.

I decided to save the best news for last. Drum roll, please. If Sam “follows the rules”, we’ll be home this weekend without the PICC line! Hallelujah!

Sam Strong!

Faith Over Fear!

Classic Sam

Published on by Jamie Grant11 Comments

I wish I could tell you the last few days have been better, not worse.

I wish I could tell you his recovery is going smoothly.

I wish I could tell you we’ve been able to manage Sam’s pain.

I wish I could tell you we went down on the oxygen, not up.

I wish I could tell you Pseudomonas was not growing on the trach culture we decided to do the other day.

I wish I could tell you Sam’s turning the corner and he’s not been miserable the last few days.

I wish I could tell you we’ve gotten a good nights sleep the last few days.

I wish I could tell you Sam is using all of his signs (language) he knows and not just “help”.

I wish I could tell you he’s on less pain meds and has less IV poles, not more.

I wish I didn’t have tell you, he will be getting a PICC line later today.

I wish I could tell you we’re getting ready to go home.

I can tell you, we were able to take out his NG tube this morning, which has been hard to keep in the last few days.

I can tell you, clinically, leaking doesn’t look like what’s going on.

I can you, all of the appropriate measures are being taken to figure out the problem.

I can tell you, Pain and Palliative is now on board. They have been a game changer for Sam in the past.

I can tell you, although he’s on a lot more meds and pretty much sedated right now, he’s finally been comfortable for the last hour.

I can you, my little boy is a fighter and he will come out on top.

Please don’t stop praying for my sweet little boy.

Faith Over Fear!

Sam Strong!

Sam is Back!

Published on by Jamie Grant4 Comments

Sam was pretty much back to himself on Monday. When he gets sick, he falls hard,  very fast, but he comes back just as fast. Darn tracheitis.

One of Sam’s nurses who was new to us in March has never seen Sam sick. She was here the day he started to get sick. He fell hard, fast. We had a very rough day. She’s heard me forewarn her how fast it happens with him, but when she experienced it, she couldn’t believe the actuality of it. She said she went home and cried. Enough said.

He’s better. That’s all that matters.

We are all set! Surgery is already rescheduled for September!

I am bummed we will be gone during the first week of school. If we were living in normal times with school, it would be good timing, but we’re not.

Distance learning was not a super great experience in our house, but we made the best of it. It makes me a little nervous to have the “teacher” gone the first week of school, but it will be fine. According to my daughter, the teacher (aka, me) isn’t top notch anyway. 😂

The flights, hotel, and car rental are booked again and the oxygen is approved. Thankfully, all of the medical supplies that were already shipped to the hotel can just wait a little longer. The hotel general manager had no problem keeping the extra boxes for us. Whew. This traveling thing with Sam is no cake walk, but it does get easier every time.

One day at a time.

One foot in front of the other.

 

Cincinnati Cancelled

Published on by Jamie Grant3 Comments

Well, after talking to the docs at Cincinnati they thought it would be best to cancel Sam’s surgery and reschedule.

Bummer.

It is for the best though.

I can’t imagine getting on a plane with him tomorrow morning. He’s a little better today, and off the oxygen so that’s good, but still very lethargic. He’s definitely starting to turn the corner though.

If he were a typical kid, he would have been in the hospital a few days ago and likely intubated.

As we suspected, Sam has tracheitis which is an infection in the trachea. For a typical kid, tracheitis is super rare. It’s the cursing of a having a direct access to your airway. Thankfully, for Sam, it’s always been easily treated. This means fourteen different nebulizer treatments, four times a day, an oral steroid, a little oxygen support, and mama, daddy, and/or a nurses lap.

Are we thankful for home care nurses? You have no idea.

Except for figuring out how we’ll handle the medical supplies already shipped to the hotel, we were able to cancel everything hassle and fee free. That was a huge relief.

This is a perfect example of truly living one day  at a time. Yes, it’s a bummer, but it is okay and it will be okay.

We are thankful Sam didn’t end up in the hospital and he’s on the mend.

Sam Strong.

Faith Over Fear.

Our Little Boy is Back

Published on by Jamie GrantLeave a comment

The culture came back and as we suspected, Sam had tracheitis…again. There were two different organisms growing. It would honestly take a microbiology lesson to truly understand some of Sam’s sickness’. Unfortunately, I’ve had a crash course in a lot of subjects I’d rather not and wasn’t planning to the last three years.

For those of you who care, I found a website that gives a good explanation of tracheitis. Keep in mind, this explanation is considering a child without a tracheostomy. It sounds pretty scary and it is, but because we already know Sam is susceptible, we can treat it quickly.

Tracheitis is an infection of the trachea (breathing tube or windpipe) that is caused by bacteria. Tracheitis most frequently occurs in small children and can make it very difficult to breathe.

Tracheitis is rare, only occurring in about 1 in 1,000,000 cases and is suspected to be more prevalent in boys than girls.

Aggressive treatment early on is important in properly managing tracheitis.

Initial treatments will usually require admission into an intensive care unit where your child can be observed and intubated (breathing tube placed) if necessary. Having a breathing tube will also allow the ICU nurses to perform aggressive airway suctioning to keep your child breathing as comfortably as possible. [1]

It’s virtually impossible for a child without a tracheostomy to get tracheitis. Why is Sam so susceptible to tracheitis? Because he has a direct access to his airway, his tracheostomy or breathing tube. We have our noses, sinuses, and the rest of our anatomy leading to our trachea to filter out the bad bacteria. When it tries to get stuck, we sneeze it back out. We have lots of natural mechanisms to fight this stuff off. Sam does not.

Sam was a pretty sick little boy this past week. Tracheitis is what Sam was hospitalized for back in September. If we would have brought him in this past week, chances are very high, he would have been admitted. We did everything possible to keep him out of the hospital, because we know he can catch far greater illnesses or what we call super bugs there than at home. We also didn’t want to disrupt any of our travel plans coming up. That would have been a big bummer. In our last stay, Sam’s Pediatric Intensivist explained how, often the parents of complex kids have a very different view of a sick kid. What a generally healthy child would be hospitalized for, a complex child is cared for at home so when they do end up in the hospital, they are very sick kiddos.

Boy, oh boy, are we thankful for our home care nurses and the other people who help out when Sam gets sick. Our home care nurses and support system are what help keep us sane.

We are so happy Sam kicked this and we were able to keep him out of the hospital. Thank you for praying for our sweet little boy.

We leave in less than a week for Cincinnati! Sam’s pulmonologist has put him on “lock down” until after we get back. This means no going school and no going to therapy. Thankfully, he’s a very easily entertained little boy.

We are praying for answers in Cincinnati so we can hopefully get rid of Sam’s tracheostomy, aka trach!

Sam

Sources:

  1. Hayes, Kristin. “Do You Know the Differences Between Croup and Tracheitis?” Verywell Health, Verywell Health, 15 Nov. 2019, http://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-tracheitis-1192023.