Re: Worried about Finlay again (long)

October 25, 2003

Hi ,

It's been a long time and I'm sorry that I'm just now checking in

with you when you and Finlay are having such a hard time. My husband

had pneumonia this summer and it was horrible. He was in the

hospital for a week and off work for 3 weeks. He was in a lot of

pain and took him a couple weeks after he went back to work to build

his strength back up. He has been sick for a few days but not with a

cough. It was like flu symptoms and finally he got so bad he went to

the hospital and it shocked us too that he had pneumonia. We never

could understand how he got it either.

Sorry, I can't give you any advice but we will keep Finlay in our

thoughts and prayers and I hope he gets feeling better soon.

Take Care,

le, mom to:

ShyeLynn, Brock, & Coby & Carlee (NOW 1 YR OLD!!!!)

October 25, 2003

,

I am so sorry that you are going through such a difficult time with

Finlay's health. You are correct - you are so fortunate to have

taken him to a doctor who was wise enough to check him out and

discover the pneumonia early. That would explain the difficulty

with blood sugars for sure.

I know that last year I had a severe asthma attack and was in the

hospital for three days. When I came home, I was so weak that I was

exhausted if I just got up and took a shower. It really took about

three weeks until I felt like myself again. I'm sure that Finlay is

going through the same thing. At least he has the mic-key button

and you can still get food into him. And he is tolerating it. Just

keep an eye on those BSLs, as you know.

Did you know that there is a pneumonia vaccine? I don't know at

what age it can be given, but it is supposed to protect a person for

10 years. I had it about 5 years ago. I know they give it to

children, too, but I don't know at what age. Perhaps you should

talk to your doctor about that. While there are many kids who get

pneumonia only once and are none the worse for wear, a child like

Finlay is more at risk. You must stress that with the doctor.

At least you all are heading into summer down there. We are heading

into a long, cold winter and I am dreading it. Don't you usually go

away for awhile to the beach?

Jodi

October 26, 2003

No help for you... but hoping Finlay is better soon. I was furious

when I found out recently that Darcy had aspirated in his first

surgery and we weren't informed (so if he had gotten sick I'd

probably have waited a day or two before taking him to see our GP,

instead of rushing straight back to the hospital...)

thinking of you

((HUGS))

Steph

> Hi everyone

> Its been a long week....

> Finlay has been struggling to maintain his blood sugar levels

within

> normal range following a " severe hypoglycaemic epsiode " last week.

> We have switched feeds from pediasure to vivonex (similar to pepti

> jnr) and that seems to sustain him for longer so the blood sugars

are

> starting to plateau at 3.7 (65) instead of 2.9 (47).

> On Friday he started to go downhill - very pale, lethargic, floppy,

> hot - just generally miserable....I wasn't sure if it was the new

> feed, blood sugar problems or something else..so I paged our endo

> (who I have been speaking to on a daily basis through all of this)

he

> suggested I bring Finlay in to see him - even although he was busy

> with meetings and lectures that day.

> By the time we got to hospital Finlay was really miserable nad

> obvioulsy not well. Our Dr came down to see us just few minuite

> after we arrived. He checked Finlay over very thoroughly -

listened

> to his chest very carefully and picked up a " dull " sound in his

right

> lung - he sent us for a chest xray which confirmed his suspicion of

a

> low grade pneumonia. Finlay was admitted for IV antibiotics for 24

> hours. THe first 12 hours he seemed to get worse instead of

better -

> had a very high fever and quite laboured breathing - but then he

> picked up and by the next morning was 100 times better. Its a

> holiday weekend here so we were allowed to go home on oral

> anitbiotics. Finlay is heaps better than he was - his blood sugars

> seem to be a bit better but he is just complelty wiped out - pale

and

> tired wth dark shadows under his eyes.

> Can anyone with experience witha child with chest issues tell me -

> Is the pneumonia likely to recur

> How long can it take for the child to recover once out of hospital

> What are the signs I should be looking for

>

> The drs could not tell me how Finlay got this infection. He did

not

> ahve a chest cough at all....so it was not secondary to a chesty

> cold. Given all the reflux issues he had been having I think he

has

> apirated some food - but the house drs seemed to think that hte

xray

> was more in keeping with him having develpoed pneumonia secondary

to

> an upper respiratory virus

>

> Either way I am pretty shaken by the whole thing. I am also very

> grateful that we have such a wonderful Dr who got on to this early

so

> that it did not have the cahnce to develop further - I know that if

I

> had taken Finlay to our GP on Friday instead of to the hospital we

> would have been sent home and told he was just coming down with a

> virus.

>

> Thanks for listening/reading and for understanding.....as I said we

> have had quite a week.....

>

> Best wishes to all

>

> in New Zealand

> Finlay nearly 4yrs old....11.5kgs, 91cms. RSS. G-tube

October 26, 2003

Hi :-)

Janelle's first pneumonia was questionable as to whether or not it was

aspiration pneumonia. Even though the x-rays didn't support it well they

assumed aspiration pneumonia because of her history with reflux and such.

She did have to be on oxygen for about 5-6 months afterward but otherwise

she was full of energy. As you all know the pneumonia came back but she had

also become septic so I am not sure about data with recurrence. Finlays

lungs will probably always be a little more susceptible to pneumonia or

bronchitis since this episode. I am glad everything is turning out good and

Finlay did not have to spend a long time in the hospital.

J

>

> Reply-To: RSS-Support

> Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 08:16:34 -0000

> To: RSS-Support

> Subject: Worried about Finlay again (long)

>

> Hi everyone

> Its been a long week....

> Finlay has been struggling to maintain his blood sugar levels within

> normal range following a " severe hypoglycaemic epsiode " last week.

> We have switched feeds from pediasure to vivonex (similar to pepti

> jnr) and that seems to sustain him for longer so the blood sugars are

> starting to plateau at 3.7 (65) instead of 2.9 (47).

> On Friday he started to go downhill - very pale, lethargic, floppy,

> hot - just generally miserable....I wasn't sure if it was the new

> feed, blood sugar problems or something else..so I paged our endo

> (who I have been speaking to on a daily basis through all of this) he

> suggested I bring Finlay in to see him - even although he was busy

> with meetings and lectures that day.

> By the time we got to hospital Finlay was really miserable nad

> obvioulsy not well. Our Dr came down to see us just few minuite

> after we arrived. He checked Finlay over very thoroughly - listened

> to his chest very carefully and picked up a " dull " sound in his right

> lung - he sent us for a chest xray which confirmed his suspicion of a

> low grade pneumonia. Finlay was admitted for IV antibiotics for 24

> hours. THe first 12 hours he seemed to get worse instead of better -

> had a very high fever and quite laboured breathing - but then he

> picked up and by the next morning was 100 times better. Its a

> holiday weekend here so we were allowed to go home on oral

> anitbiotics. Finlay is heaps better than he was - his blood sugars

> seem to be a bit better but he is just complelty wiped out - pale and

> tired wth dark shadows under his eyes.

> Can anyone with experience witha child with chest issues tell me -

> Is the pneumonia likely to recur

> How long can it take for the child to recover once out of hospital

> What are the signs I should be looking for

>

> The drs could not tell me how Finlay got this infection. He did not

> ahve a chest cough at all....so it was not secondary to a chesty

> cold. Given all the reflux issues he had been having I think he has

> apirated some food - but the house drs seemed to think that hte xray

> was more in keeping with him having develpoed pneumonia secondary to

> an upper respiratory virus

>

> Either way I am pretty shaken by the whole thing. I am also very

> grateful that we have such a wonderful Dr who got on to this early so

> that it did not have the cahnce to develop further - I know that if I

> had taken Finlay to our GP on Friday instead of to the hospital we

> would have been sent home and told he was just coming down with a

> virus.

>

> Thanks for listening/reading and for understanding.....as I said we

> have had quite a week.....

>

> Best wishes to all

>

> in New Zealand

> Finlay nearly 4yrs old....11.5kgs, 91cms. RSS. G-tube

>

October 28, 2003

my heart goes out to you, Finlay and all your family. Hope things get better

soon. Best wishes

Maeve

Worried about Finlay again (long)