Hi! Home from hospital (and I'm back!)

[Guest guest]

Well, I've been away for a LONG time, and am finally trying to get back into the

swing of things. For those of you who may remember me, this is

Schumacher--Codybug's mom. He is now a whopping 7 years old!! Overall his

health has been good, but lately it's been one thing after another. Here is a

quick synopsis of the last two months:

Jan 13--my Grandma (maternal) has several small strokes and goes into a home.

Jan 19--kids and I head to see her (3 hours away). Cody starts coughing during

the trip, and has a low-grade fever that night.

Jan 20--Cody coughs more and more, starts running nasty temp as evening goes--we

throw in extra treatments during the day. That night, his fever goes up

to 102, so I take him in to the ER (luckily we are in Bismarck, ND at the

time, across the street from a hospital with a CF Clinic). He ends up

having double pneumonia and a major sinus infection and gets admitted on the

spot.

Jan 23--They release him to be transferred by me directly back to Fargo to be

put in the hospital here.

Jan 24--My mom calls and tells me Grandma had a major stroke and is in critical

condition.

Jan 27--Cody is released from the hospital on IV's for two more weeks

(Tobramycin, Fortaz, and Vancomycin for a staph infection)

Jan 28--Mom calls and tells me Grandma passed away during the night, so we pack

up and head to the funeral on that Friday.

Feb 1--Cody complains of ringing in his ears, so is taken off Tobramycin

immediately--still has mild ringing, but isn't constant--could that be

ototoxicity or not??

Feb 9--Cody is almost done with IV's and had been feeling better, but started

feeling yukky again--low fever, tired, achy muscles and joints, etc. Both I

and the docs think he has a virus, but.... More on that below.

Feb 11--done with IV's, Cody starts to feel somewhat better but is still weak

and tired (also blaming it on the fact that he lost 6 pounds while sick and

was down to 39 pounds)

Feb 14--find out my uncle has cancer and will be having surgery on the 21st here

Feb 20--Cody is again feeling mildly yukky and his appetite falls off

dramatically, but he is not running a fever or anything and no cough

Feb 21--spend the day at the hospital again with family while my uncle has

surgery for his cancer, which goes well. Daddy stays home with the kids

(teacher conferences, so no school). Cody is feeling tired, no

appetite, but still no fever.

Feb 24--Cody gets up and has a fever of 102.5 along with very sore muscles and

joints, lethargy, and very glazed eyes, so I call his doctor and he tells me

to bring him in right away. He takes a look at him and right into the

hospital we go, with Dr. B feeling this had to do with an infection in his port,

rather than directly with his CF. They take a blood culture from his port and

peripherally. Cody's temp keeps climbing, and ends up over 104. They

start him on Fortaz to be safe, in case it's a bacterial infection in

his port.

Feb 25--cultures come back--he has a yeast infection in his port, and shows some

evidence of it in his blood. He goes in and has his port removed (DAMN!!!),

and begins a course of " amphoTERRIBLE!!! "

(amphoteracin). The first dose goes in okay, although he feels pretty yukky--

but it was hard to tell whether the " yukky " came from being so sick, or from the

ampho--probably a combo.

Feb 26--this dose doesn't go in so well--he ends up with severe rigors and ends

up having to have a dose of Demerol to get his body to relax. That

ampho stuff SUCKS!!!! He's still feeling pretty crappy.

Feb 27--yeast culture comes back as " candida tropicalis " --hmmmmm....wonder when

he went to the tropics without me???? LOL So no more ampho--he gets to

go on IV diflucan. MUCH better!! All his other cultures (staph,

pseudomonas, etc. all come back negative again)

Feb 28--He's feeling lots and lots better, so they let him come home, and he is

on Diflucan orally for 3 more weeks. In the meantime, he also developed a

small bacterial infection around his g-tube and his mouth, so he's on

Cephalexin for that. He still is eating little to nothing, but feels lots

better.

TODAY--My mom calls, and my Dad had a heart attack!!!!! So, tomorrow we are

going to drive up north to get her (he is in their small-town hospital right

now), as they are transporting him by ambulance down here to Fargo, and we

don't want her driving, as it is 3-1/2 hours, and she is a basket case

right now. Monday will be spent back at the hospital with Dad.

Boy, oh boy--they say with March " in like a lion, out like a lamb " --the weather

is living up to that, and so is everything else!! Does that apply to a new year

too??? If so, it should be a pretty uneventful fall! LOL LOL

Well, I better get going. It's 11:00, we're leaving at 8 am, and I still have

one ice skating dress to cut out and sew, and 4 more outfits to cut out to get

ready for other people to sew their own (I have a home-sewing business, and it's

Ice Revue season!!). Guess I won't be sleeping tonight! LOL I'll sleep on the

way there...maybe.

Night all!

S., mom to a (14, nocf), DJ (8, nocf) and Cody (7, pwcf)

[Guest guest]

OMG.........welcome back............Poor Cody sounds like hes been through

hell and back (as was his mother)...........

sit down....and breathe - then sew...lol

Rosemary from New York with 3 children with CF -

they are 12.5, 10, 6......

I coined the phrase " BREATHE DAMMIT " ; we have a dog we named -are you ready

for this - TOBI after their medication!!! At least it wasn't albuterol or

Coly...