Friday, September 14, 2012

The good news

The good news is, James doesn't have strep.  Or, a high heart rate.  Or anything in his chest.  Or a cough.  Or a fever.  Or anything of any interest to anyone.  That's GREAT news!

The not so good news is that we almost ended up in the emergency room to "prove" it!

Today started with a trip to the GI doctor about 45 minutes away.  Both Micah and James were being seen today and I had Delaina with me as well.  The doctor came in and first mentioned that both boys were still not gaining weight very much.  Then I pointed out Micah's "chub" and he agreed he must have not looked at the right curve for him, because he's quite stocky!

I then mentioned that James' g-tube site hasn't completely closed still.  It leaks when he eats and soaks the front of his shirts.  Since he's getting ear tubes at the end of this month, I thought it may be good timing to close up the hole at the same time.  Our GI seemed to think the hole being open was a good thing, because he knows the struggles we've continued to have with James getting food in him (all drink, actually) and we had just discussed his medication change for reflux meds since James FIGHTS taking meds now. 

Instead of closing the hole, he's ready to put the tube back in.  Save James the frustration of being pushed to eat.  Save us the worry of him not eating.  Save everyone the hassle of making sure that he gets the medications he needs.  The tube isn't that big of a deal, so having it there and available again shouldn't be awful.  Right?

I'm still trying to convince myself of this, but I know we've talked about it (Mike and I) over the last few months, how we almost wished he just had the tube so we didn't have to put up with his lashing out from food and meds.  He is STRONG, and is only getting bigger and stronger and harder to contain...

So, news #1 at our appointment was that James is getting a g-tube put back in, and the GI will coordinate that with our ENT so they can do it at he same time as the ear tubes.

News #2 actually happened somewhat first... James' oxygen saturation level was 86.  The nurse tried to do it three times.  First and third time it was 86 and the second she never did get a read.  That's NOT good!  I called our pediatrician as I pulled out of the GI office and asked if they thought he needed to be seen, to which they replied "of course, RIGHT NOW."  Well, 45 minutes away... I wouldn't make it before they closed for lunch.  Because of the poor timing, they instead told me to take him to the emergency room.  REALLY??  

I didn't feel like he was cyanotic or in distress in any way shape or form. Yes, he had a little bit of clear nasal drainage, but he doesn't know how to blow his nose, so that's not unusual!  And he coughed once today, does that count for anything?  Not really!

Thankfully I came to my senses and called our ped's second office to see if one of them could see him and was met with a more favorable response :).  Our regular doctor was up there and would wait on us to break.  Yay!  They were able to get his saturation levels and though initially they showed 71, they quickly climbed as his finger warmed up.  So weird!  Anyway, they swabbed him, took his temperature, checked his eyes and ears and went all out to make SURE there wasn't something underlying that would cause a drop in O2 levels.  He checked out just fine! :)  Good to know he's healthy I guess??

Now we are waiting for a re-schedule of at least James' ear tubes to be when the GI and ENT can coordinate them together.  Micah's may be rescheduled with his, or they may leave it as this month.  Wesley also sees this GI and is scheduled to have his g-tube changed out for a low-profile variety as well as getting his next set of Botox and Phenol injections at the end of the month.  

So, three surgeries for 5 procedures are in the works, we avoided driving 40 minutes to the closest children's hospital to visit their ER, and oh, did I mention that yesterday Lynae went to cardiology and unfortunately her hole hasn't closed yet and she'll be seen in another year.  Darn :(

Now, on to the weekend...

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like he could maybe have Raynaud's? Does he usually have cold extremities? Glad to hear he's alright! (Raynaud's causes the blood vessels in the extremities to constrict when stressed or exposed to the cold, but is generally not a big deal, just some cold fingers and toes and of course it makes it harder to get an accurate oxygen saturation!)

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