We had anticipated Ian having to have surgery this fall. Certainly his adnoids removed, possibly tubes in his ears. The ENT told us to try a particular vaccine first before scheduling the surgery. The pneumo-vax vaccine often will help people who get frequent sinus infections. Coincidentally, my allergist also had me get the same vaccine. I didn’t hold much hope in it being effective because our oldest had the vaccine and still needed surgery. Well, Ian has had two colds this month and no infections! I don’t remember our kids ever having just a cold! And I have been healthy as well! I’m thinking maybe I should go on a speaking tour to promote the vaccine:) Seriously, this is a major praise for our family-I did not want my little Ian to undergo surgery. Thank you Lord!
Monday we went to the dr. to check on how Ethan was doing since getting sick while we were out of town. After an hour of waiting in a small room with two active boys, I decided to leave. I was sure that if we stayed one more minute they would kill each other. So we rescheduled for yesterday. We weren’t there long, thankfully, and were told Ethan has a sinus infection. He also had an allergic reaction to something they used in VBS so we got some medication for that.
We decided to be wild and crazy and I kept an appointment we had at the chiropractor so we went there as well. My back is actually doing a lot better so I figured I better stick with what works. Before we went in I encouraged both boys to use the restroom. Ethan did but Ian would not. Me: “Ian you should use the bathroom, remember you had a lot to drink.” Ian: “I don’t need to go.” Me: “If we’re in the room and the dr. is working on me I won’t be able to take you right away when you have to go.” Ian: “I don’t need to go.”
So we all saw the chiropractor and then I had my electrical stim. time where I’m stuck to a machine. Ian says “I have to go potty!” I told him it would be a few more minutes until my thing was done, please hold it. Two minutes later, “Mommy I’m peeing!” Sure enough he was, but not just a little, so much so that it was running down his legs and onto his shoes. I couldn’t believe it. So I carried him out of the dr.’s office so everyone couldn’t see but ended up getting soaked myself. Ahhh! Ian: “I’m sorry mommy.”
I mentioned on a previous post that Ian has been sick. He had a CT scan last week that showed that he had a sinus infection. Since he didn’t present with any symptoms, I told the doctor I wanted to wait to treat him until he was sick. The next day, he started with the symptoms so I went ahead and started giving him the medication. He just continued to worsen. He started with a fever Friday evening and unfortunately it was a holiday weekend, so I couldn’t take him in until today. He’s had a fever for about four days and his cough kept getting worse so I started him on breathing treatments. Poor guy, he hardly complained, just asked to sit on my lap. Turns out he also has an ear infection and he is resistent to the antibiotics he was on. So we’re trying another one. I ended up taking him to the pediatrician because his allergist doesn’t typcially like to treat kids with fevers, though I will take him to see the allergist tomorrow and tell them about the change in meds. He won’t be able to get his vaccine for a while until he is better. I would like to get it as soon as we can so we can see if it will work. I have a bad feeling about him having surgery by the end of the year. My poor little baby:(
Our allergy/asthma doctor called the other day about Ian’s bloodwork and said that he needs the pneumovax shot and she wanted us to try CT scan again. As a side note, I had the pneumovax shot recently myself and it actually worked for me, reducing the frequency of sinus infections-woohoo! So today we tried for the second time to get the CT scan done on Ian. I decided to try a different place and gave him Benadryl beforehand. It didn’t make him sleep but did seem to mellow him a bit. So he laid very still and we got it done. I was amazed! Now, if only I could convince him the vaccine would be just as painless!
Today I took Ian to the ENT. it took him 30days to get better from his recent infection. The doctor wants to wait and see the results from blood work to test the immune system and see if Ian requires a pnuemovox vaccination or not. If that is not successful then he recommended that we have Ian’s adnoids removed. I wasn’t surprised at his recommendation but was surprised that I was calm and didn’t get upset about Ian needing surgery. Could it be because this has become so normal to me?
After being up all night and then trying to get a CT scan and X-ray done on Ian, I didn’t think my day could get worse, but it did. I took Ethan to the doctor in the afternoon because of his asthma problems in the middle of the night. When I arrived, they told me they were running on time (I guess I shouldn’t have believed them). She said his nose, throat, and ears looked great and his breathing was fine and that she didn’t know why he was coughing. So she ordered a lung function test. Apparently his lung functioning has worsened since the last time he did the test so then Ethan had to do a breathing treatment there in the office. I was starting to get a little worried about the time because we had been there over an hour by the time he did his breathing treatment. (My small group was supposed to meet at my house and I knew they were on the way so I had George send them info. on how to get in the house and wait for me). After the breathing treatment he had to do another lung function test. After that test we waited forever for her to come back and tell us what we were supposed to do for him. We were in a 5X3 size room for two hours and they were both hyper. I was so tired I started crying, not to mention feeling claustrophobic. I told the nurse I could not stay there another minute. She begged me to stay and wait for the doctor to return and feeling sorry for me, started playing with the kids. Finally the doctor returned and we got our orders for a round of steroids and we finally left. Thankfully my small group believed I would eventually return and they hung out at my house waiting for me. Needless to say, there was some venting that went on yesterday evening!
So it seems we are headed down a road we’ve been on before. Ian has had four ear/and/or sinus infections the past four months. Words cannot describe how tired I am from being up half the night with him the past week or so. I took him to the dr. yesterday and she wants him to get a CT scan and Xrays and possibly blood work. I tried to take him this morning but he screamed and screamed so they pretty much told me to leave. I was a little irritated because at one point I finally had him calm and laying still and then the tech decided that since his face wasn’t perfectly lined up how she needed it to be, she needed to strap his face down. That set him off for good. I know he has to be in the exact perfect spot for the scan to work but I was hoping that since he had calmed down, I could help him move his face right before she took the picture. Oh well. I’m not sure if I want to get medication from the dr. to sedate him for it or not. Ethan happened to be with us because he was up in the middle of the night with problems with his asthma and I wanted to make sure it was under control before I sent him to school. He was helpful and layed down on the bed for Ian to see that it wasn’t scary, unfortunately it didn’t work. So I’m afraid we’re heading down the adnoid removal route, followed by possible ear or sinus surgery. I guess since I’m so familiar with this road, I won’t be so scared and anxious about it. So, here we go again!
I had to take Ethan to the allergist today. He’s had a lingering cough since he had croup a month ago and the cough has worsened since our cold snap here the past couple of days. I had to give him a breathing treatment of Albuterral yesterday. His behavior was out of control all day, I even had to restrain him one time. So the doctor said that the croup and the cold weather have triggered his asthma. Thankfully there are no signs of a sinus infection. She put him on Prednesone and gave me an alternative medicine to Albuterral that will hopefully have less behavioral side effects. Also, since Ethan has been complaining about itching watery eyes and itching nose, she put him on Zyrtec for allergies. We discussed the possibility of him maybe being allergic to the Christmas tree. I’m planning on getting him tested again for allergies early next year.
Ethan was a champ during allergy testing. He laughed when they stuck his back. We watched “Elmo in Grouchland” during the event on the dvd player. Nothing showed up on the test. She said that his symptoms are probably from environmental triggers that they can’t test for. She said he can’t have a fan in his room, no carpet and no stuffed animals. Yeah right. As we were leaving, Ethan saw a man in the waiting room and pointed to him and said something. I wasn’t sure what he said, then I heard the man laughing. I went around the corner to see the man and then I knew. He said “Man has no hair, just a head.”
Ethan continues to get up in the middle of the night, 1am or so. Sometimes it appears to be from a night terror, other times after a dream. I guess we’ll just have to get used to it. He continues to progress slowly with the potty thing. A few times I have wondered if he was still too immature for it (especially after he pees every 20minutes which makes for no success in keeping dry) and then he’ll suprise me by telling me he has to go (which rarely happens) or he’ll stay drier than usual. Today I took him to my allergist. After having an ear infection followed by a sinus infection over the holidays, I was tired of the constant sickness and scheduled an appointment with my allergist. She diagnosed him with asthma and allergies (along with the eczema I already knew he had) and will test him for specific allergies in two weeks. She gave him a nasal spray to add to his list of meds. This about it for him. I started volunteering with the senior high youth at church, should be a good experience. That’s it for now.
