You just keep me hangin' on...

Friday Nov 13, 2009

You just keep me hangin' on

You don't really need me
But you keep me hangin' on
-The Supremes

Faithful blog readers, I must apologize. My last blog post has left ya hangin' for over a week now, and that's no way to treat you! Life has been a crazy whirlwind this week of medical issues and kitchen renovation craziness, and I simply haven't made time to blog. I'll give you the medical update today and will post lots of kitchen pics this weekend.

So, in our last episode, Jay and Derek were happily singing away as I left the hospital. Jay was joyfully slamming the faux cast/IV line against the bars of his crib and appeared in no way to be as sick as he had been mere hours before.
Lesson #1 - Kids can turn on a dime - one minute seriously sick, the next healthy as a horse.

He needed no oxygen and had no other problems during the night, so the next morning our wonderful pediatrician sent us home. The next day, Thursday, he had been scheduled for pre-op to have his tonsils out. (TONsils, Ginger. Not NOStrils. I'm still laughing over that one!) I was assuming that having been so sick, surgery would be a no-go. But our Ped & ENT both agreed that the hospitalization incident is exactly why he needs the tonsils & adenoids out in the first place. He has breathing issues so frequently that we really should go ahead sooner rather than later, assuming he continued the upward trend over the weekend. Okay, we make arrangements to keep him home the rest of the week/weekend to keep him germ free & get ready for surgery on Tuesday.
Lesson #2 - My mom and my AJ are the world's best babysitters, and I owe them BIG time.

Tuesday, we head to the hospital for the big day. I thought that going without breakfast would make him (and therefore me!) incredibly miserable, but he handled it remarkably well. Got checked in, got the hospital bracelets, dressed in the gown - the whole 9 yards. About 3 minutes before he was scheduled to go to the OR, the anesthesiologist (we'll call him Doogie Howser) comes by and decides to call it off. WHAT? You're kidding me, right?!

Yes, without even looking at our child, without listening to his lungs, without listening to our explanation that he's as healthy at this moment as he ever gets, he calls it off just because he'd been sick the week before. He wanted to wait another 6 weeks. Yes, he expects the child to be fever-free for SIX more weeks! Ha ha ha ha ha. You've never set foot in a daycare, have ya Doogie Howser?

Some of my favorite comments from Dr. Howser:
"Pediatric anesthesia is my training and I've been doing this for a long time." (Um, that's why we're at a pediatric specialty hospital, buddy, because you've been trained in this. And I'm not sure how you define a long time, but I've been preggers longer than you've been in practice.)
"I don't think primary care peds really understand what we deal with as anesthesiologists." (You'd best not knock Dr. Nechyba, cause he understands taking care of kids - especially my little heart patient. He saved my baby's life when the so-called specialists didn't believe that he really had serious heart issues. Don't you even go knocking your medical colleagues to me.)
"If he were MY child, I wouldn't do an elective surgery today." (Save me the guilt trip, Doogie. There's nothing elective about this - we're trying to keep him breathing at night, which is kind of a critical issue.)
Lesson #3 - There are some fantastic, amazing people in the medical profession. And then there are some arrogant jerks who go into fields like anesthesia because there's big $$ there. We've now met docs at both ends of the spectrum.

So now we wait for surgery, part 2. Our ENT has assured us that we can reschedule when Doogie won't be on duty. We're looking at early December, assuming he can stay healthy that long.
Lesson #4 - In the wonderful, awesome world of parenting, you can never, ever, EVER expect anything to go the way you planned. And that's what makes the adventure so much fun.

Posted at 10:32AM Nov 13, 2009 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[3]

I could stay awake...

Tuesday Nov 03, 2009

I could stay awake

Just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
-Aerosmith, I don't wanna miss a thing

Nice, sweet romantic song, eh? No, for the last few nights we've been staying awake to hear Jay breathing, but it's not for any romantic notion that we just like watching his angelic little self sleep. It's because he is so congested that we're scared at any minute he'll stop breathing.

I mentioned a while back that he inherited my huge tonsils and that we'd be looking at surgery to remove them sooner rather than later. We were hoping said surgery (scheduled for next Tuesday ... ONE WEEK from today!) would help keep him from getting as sick during this winter's cold and flu season. We apparently missed our window of health for doing that. He started getting a cold in the middle of last week, and it just got worse as the weekend progressed. Then yesterday, he went to the doc and was diagnosed with bronchitis & croup. A steroid hit and some antibiotics - we're on our way back to good health, right? Apparently not so much.

He was really doing much worse this afternoon. I was home by myself with him, and his breathing became really labored. His fever spiked to 103, he was coughing constantly, and just couldn't catch his breath. Back to the doc ... then to another for chest x-rays ... and then off to the hospital for overnight observation. His 02 levels dropped pretty quickly, and given his history of heart problems, we felt it was better safe than sorry. Of course, just as soon as he hit the doors of the hospital, he seemed to be the picture of good health and was perking right back up. Why is it that the moment you walk in to a doctor's office or hospital, your kid (who moments before was on death's doorstep!) begins running around like a wild animal? Poor thing is just pitiful. I mean really, when I left the hospital, he and Derek were singing "Old MacDonald" while dancing on the bed. Jay had some potent IV antibiotics rolling in, and was busily using his new "glove" (the IV line is wrapped in major gauze/brace) to practice giving high 5's and knuckles. Next thing, he'll be banging it on the bars of the crib.

Because hospitals are breeding grounds for all kinds of germs, Derek and I decided it was best for me and the Cheeze Doodle to spend the night at home. Babe, I owe you one. Perhaps I'll make it up to you when we have a newborn who needs to be nursed in the middle of the night... every night. Maybe then we'll be even.

I don't know what to think. His breathing trouble this afternoon was really scary. And I would much rather him be there where he's under their care if he needs oxygen during the night or begins to have more serious problems. But I also wonder why a kid who is capable of dancing on the bed needs to be hospitalized. Auggghhh! I'm grateful that we don't have to stay awake, anxious and listening to him wheeze again tonight. And I pray that both of them get some rest. But most of all, I pray these stronger drugs kick in quickly and he's headed back home tomorrow.

Thanks to all our friends for keeping us in your thoughts & prayers!

Posted at 11:24PM Nov 03, 2009 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[4]