Fire Station Field Trip

November 14th Eli's class got to go on a field trip to one of the local fire stations. His teacher arranged the whole trip because Eli has been talking about being a fireman for the past two months and her father retired from being a fireman a few years ago. Thankfully Al and I were both off of work so we were able to join the class downtown and witness all of the firetruck madness. Eli had a blast and wanted to do everything at the firestation. The guys were amazing and let the kids get into anything and everything they could get their hands on. Miss Catie (Eli's teacher) had her father meet us there since it was his old station and we could not have asked for a better experience. The guys got out the big truck with the giant ladder. The kids got to slide down the poll, spray the fire hoses, get in the trucks, and try on real gear. It was such a FUN morning. The fire chief said we could come back anytime we wanted for an hour or two and let the boys play again.

Fall Leaves and Crazy Brothers

My sister snapped some action pics of the boys today while they were outside playing in the leaves. A cold front is coming through tonight and this is most likely the last day for them to play outside without coats and they had a BLAST. Enjoy the pics of my two munchkins covering each other in leaves and reaching the summit of Mt. Leaflet in the back yard.

Update....good news!

Well, after yet another trip to the ped this morning and more changes to his regimen, we are finally peering into a healthier future (I hope!). His lungs still sound crappy but not as bad. He now has a viral ear infection in his left ear. We finished the Zithromax this morning and will finish the Ceftin tomorrow. Today they decided to bump his Orapred back up to twice a day and add Pulmicort to his list of breathing treatments. They also did a quick Pertussis swab since Carson's preschool has had cases (even though Carson's swab on Thursday came back negative and E just finished the treatment for Whooping cough - Zithromax). We also ran over to get another chest x-ray to compare to his from two Saturdays ago. Thankfully the x-ray looks improved so things are finally going in the right direction. Now we just need to stop wheezing, coughing non-stop, having a mild runny nose, and not eating.

Whew. And it's only the beginning of November!

I am waiting to hear what the pulmonologist has to say when we go on 11-21. Hopefully he will have some answers or at least a game plan to get us through the winter months. For now I am happy Eli is on the upswing of this disaster and that we got by without a long hospitalization. I am definitely going to go lay down and relax while the boys nap since Carson brought me home a cold Thursday and I even missed work yesterday because of it! Thanks for keeping tabs on our sick little man. I have fun pictures to post of Eli with a giant snake around his neck soon. Just let me get some R&R first.

Not much improvement

Well, it has been a week since Eli's pneumonia started and we aren't seeing the progress the doctors hoped for. Yesterday (Thursday) we headed back to the ped for another check-up. Unfortunately Eli still has terrible lung sounds, isn't eating, is acting lethargic, waking all night, coughing, and having fevers on and off. They added Zithromax on top of the Ceftin, Orapred, Flovent, Albuterol, Singulair, and Prevacid he is on already. He ped wants to admit him tomorrow if he is still wheezing badly and not showing improvement from Thursday.

Tonight his fever is 102.9 and his lung sounds are a mix of crackles and wheezes. He hasn't eaten today except for a few small bites of fruit (his fav) tonight after dinner. Bedtime was at 5:30 and Eli hit the sheets hard and hasn't stirred since. I am hoping he turns the corner tonight and will sound better in the a.m. but my nurse/mommy instincts are telling me to go ahead and pack our hospital bags tonight. I work all weekend but Al is off but at least I work at Children's Hospital where he will be. Please keep us in your thoughts so we can stay out of the hospital and kick this pneumonia's butt. I hate seeing my happy, crazy boy without energy and a bad 'tude.

I will try to update tomorrow night on our progress and whether the antibiotics/steriods finally kicked in. Thanks for all the well wishes and comments. You guys are the best.

Pneumonia

Day 4 for little Mr. Eli. After a trip to the ER on Saturday for high fevers, lethargy, and a lovely cough, his x-ray looked oh so pretty. Diagnosis: Aspiration pneumonia and cardiomegaly. Fun times. Sent home with increased Flovent treatments (how can you increase 110mg 2 puffs BID???), Albuterol q2hrs, and the antibiotic Ceftin which is a broad spectrum and should kill just about everything. Monday was still having fevers off and on so we headed to the ped for a check-up. Stats: weight- 28lbs 2oz, height- 37.75". More crackles, sats are *okay*, told to stay on our current regimen and push any and all foods with high calorie/fat that we can.

Last night Eli starts sounding more wet with every cough and his lungs are full of crackles. Then Carson starts throwing up all-night-long. Lovely. Two sick kiddos. Al stayed home this week to tend to the two sickos. They layed around and slept most of the day. When I got home I took Eli to the urgent care to check out the increase in crackles and the nasty, wet cough. They try Atrovent and Albuterol nebs along with some good respiratory assessment. The nebs didn't help and only broke up some of the congestion to INCREASE his wheezing to a beautiful level. The attending hated to put Eli on another round of steriods since he has been on four rounds in the past 2 months but his lungs just were too bad. We are now home on a ten day taper of Orapred (hey, at least it's not Dex this time!) with instructions to see his pulmonologist in two days for a follow-up.

Fun times at our house.

Oh, and Eli is having an impedance study and sleep study to determine if he needs nighttime oxygen and another Nissen fundoplication surgery. I look at my happy, intellegent, coy toddler and know that the outcome of his extreme prematurity could be SO-MUCH-WORSE but it is times like these that I wish I could give him my lungs and take away the struggle to do one of life's basic functions. How I wish I could take it all away and make it better.