Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: Aiden is a hoot! He has the personality to fill a room. It seems that this young man can't go anywhere without adding another adoring fan to his list. He is a mover and a shaker. Nothing keeps him still for long. He thinks he has his own personal horse with our boxer, Maggie. She loves him so much that she always lets him sit on her, bounce on her and even take her bones. Now that's love! He is an eating machine...there is not much he won't eat. The one thing that is on top of his ICK list, much to the dismay of his daddy, is mashed potatoes. You can give him a bite and he scrapes them off his tongue. If you are up for some amusement...feed Aiden smashed taters.

Aiden now has TWO 16 year old siblings. He adores them like nobody's business. He loves to follow big brother, Brandon, around and rough house with him. Sister, Mikayla, can't seem to move from the room without a knee biting little shadow right behind. I love to hear "Aiden! NOOO! Get outta my room!" It is actually quite amusing. He knows which sibling he wants to pester too. Depending on who he wants to come out to play, he will lie tummy down outside their room and put his fingers under the door to get their attention. So clever!

The Bad: Aiden has made a return trip to the hospital. We have been here 7 days, as I write this. Once again it has started out as sniffles and ended up as pneumonia. He was admitted into the Pediatric Care Unit and we stayed there for 6 days.Then we were moved to the Peds unit. I am telling you it is like going from a Super 8 Motel to the Waldorf Astoria! Amazing!! It is the brand new Walt Disney Pavillion...oh my mom is impressed to say the least.
I actually went to power nap at the Ronald McDonald House a few hours here and there thanks to some friends who relieved me.That has been a life saver. You don't realize how important a hot shower and a bed to stretch out on can be....WOW!is all I can say.(Save those pop tabs for RMH...it is such a great cause and easy to do!!) I refuse to leave him alone unless there is no other option. Going down to the cafeteria is 1 thing, but hours upon hours is another story. Poor kid has so many strangers in and out of his room, he needs the comfort of a friendly face.

Now for the UGLY: A big factor with all of Aiden's pneumonias is that he has reflux and is aspirating when he drinks liquids. The aspiration is putting fluid in his lungs when he drinks and the reflux is putting fluid in his lungs after he drinks...a losing battle. To help with this he is to now drink liquids that we have to thicken with a special ingredient. It has the consistancy of fruit nectar. (side note..trying to explain fruit nectar to daddy was really funny. Since Daddy doesn't touch many fruits or drink many juices besides orange, he had to compare it to syrup. That's what he gets for having a limited palette!HA!)
So right now Aiden is going to have an endoscopy tomorrow to help figure out what the next steps are to follow to prevent further infections and to help preserve his lungs as much as possible. We have been asking ourselves...Should this have been caught earlier?? The answer seems to be..Possibly, but how the speach therapist explained it to me (and it makes sense) is that Aiden is very much atypical. (DUH we could have told you that HA!). He doesn't fit the symptoms for a kiddo with reflux and/or aspiration. Many of them are failure to thrive and lose weight or refuse to eat..that is not the case with our chunky monkey. So it is what it is, at this point.

THE UGLIEST: Poor baby has horrible horrible..did I mention HORRIBLE veins. Whenever he gets an iv line it blows. But the hardest part is actually getting an iv started. The ER nurse who has been here 20 years stated that there is only 3 kids he couldn't stick and Aiden is 1 of them. He was a very buff guy and I believe the term "freakishly strong" is how he referred to our little monkey. There are 2 people in this hospital that have had luck with him. Of course his line blew today and neither one of them are around to put the iv back in. Poor baby has been stuck about 12 times trying to get lines started. It is a little much on me watching..I can only imagine experiencing it. The poor guy.

I will let you know the next steps when we know them. God bless and remember....

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

2 comments:

  1. Hey Stac, I know I can't do much at this point, but if you need a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen, just call. I am around. I will continue to keep you all in my prayers. Keep posted and remember just call if you need to talk. Love Ya, Heather :-)

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  2. Stacey, Thanks for the update and PLEASE call me when you need a break! I can also help with your other 2 at home...
    We love you! Debbie

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