Life Is Good: One Sick Little Boy

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

One Sick Little Boy

I have one very sick little boy.

I took Ryan to the doctor this morning, not because he seemed to be so horribly sick compared to his other recent illnesses, but he gets sick every 2 weeks. I can almost write it on the calendar. He gets sick. It lasts 10 days to 2 weeks. He's well for 2 weeks. He gets sick for two weeks and then he's well for 2 weeks. We've been doing this for months now. I decided it was time to talk to the doctor, and boy am I glad I went ahead and made an appointment. As the morning wore on Ryan's breathing got worse and worse.

Our appointment was at 10:20. We arrived at 10:05. We were finally put in an exam room at 11:15. That was a miserable wait in the waiting room. An hour sitting in a waiting room with a sick toddler is like...well...it's just bad. (I can't think of any good analogies tonight.)

The beginning of the conversation with Dr. S went like this:

Dr.: "Hey, guys how is everyone doing today?"
Me: "I'm good, he's not so good."
Dr.: Before I finish talking..."Man, he sounds awful. I'm glad you brought him in when you did, this is bad."

Dr S. theorizes that Ryan is having some MAJOR allergy problems with the possibility of some asthma-type stuff. He really didn't think Ryan "picked" up anything like a virus or bacterial infection. I'm not so sure on that, but I'll trust his judgment.

Dr. S. put Ryan on an antibiotic for 3 days, an oral steroid for 5, alburterol breathing treatments for as long as necessary, pulmocort (steroid) breathing treatments for at least a week, zyrtec, nasocort, and maybe one other med, but it escapes me at the moment. Ryan is now old enough to have his own inhaler with a spacer for when we are out and about instead of lugging around the nebulizer. This is a very good thing. I haven't tried the spacer/inhaler yet because he was desperately needing a breathing treatment when we got home and since I'm familiar with the nebulizer it was the quickest way I could get him some medicine.

We were unable to get the Pulmicort (steroid) because of insurance issues, so I'll be calling the doctor about it tomorrow. After insurance paid their measly $100 our part of the bill was going to be $300!

Dr. S. also referred us to the Allergy and Asthma Clinic at Children's Hospital. We will be receiving a call from them someday soon and I'll keep everyone informed when I know more.

Since we've been home Ryan has really been having some problems breathing. Up until his last breathing treatment we were just steps away from taking him to the ER. He's been breathing fast, with retractions, and wheezing. I gave him a breathing treatment at 8:00 p.m. That seemed to help. I will be sleeping in his room tonight.

2 comments:

Bootsy said...: Oh, I hope Ryan gets feeling better soon. We will keep him in our prayers. Let's hope he is feeling great for the walk!; April 23, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Anonymous said...: My heart and prayers go out to you and Ryan!! My son went through something similar, and was on all of those same meds. It is scary and EXPENSIVE. One trip to the Target pharmacy was $800 (with insurance)!!!!!! I made myself crazy counting breaths per minute, heartrate, etc. The GOOD news is that he has really improved with age. He is 5 now, and although he has Reactive Airway, it is only during Oak season and is easily managed. Hang in there and I will keep you all in my prayers.; April 23, 2009 at 2:19 PM

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander