Sunday, February 27, 2011

Welcome Baby Connor!


Yesterday, we went to my mom's for the afternoon, and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins, Emalin, Aleah, and Owen. We also got to meet their newest cousin, Michelle's handsome baby boy Connor James. Braylon was not too thrilled with him, and he stayed right with me the entire day, seemingly afraid that I was going to give him up for that baby. Emily, on the other hand, delighted in holding and loving the sweet baby.

Congratulations Sam and Michelle! And yes Michelle, you do make a pretty baby! :-)


Friday, February 25, 2011

BIG Changes

Pulmonology appointment went well. Braylon was started on antibiotics and is doing much better. He was also started on inhalers, so mom's life just got a lot easier!!! No more bedtime Pulmicort battle. HOORAY!!!!!

And then there is Emily....Emily blew the very best PFT's of her entire life, which is fabulous except for one little thing. She is still breathing like crap!

So what does that mean?? The pulmonologist says that her symptoms do not seem to be coming from her lungs, and they want us to go back to the cardiologist, especially with the problems she has had with fluid retention the last several months. That appointment is scheduled for March 7. Hoping for answers, although not feeling too optimistic that we'll get any at this point. :-(

I was looking back over pictures today, and wanted to share a few of exactly what I'm talking about. I am hoping the computer will let me load them in the right order, but not so sure about that. I'll do my best.....

Emily in March of 2010 the night before the Folkstyle State Finals:

Now, this is Emily the following month wearing a wrestling singlet at the Boys Club Freestyle City Championship. She's the little girl in red. There had been a several pound weight gain in a few days time, back when her liver had become enlarged, and this picture was actually taken after all that had resolved, so believe it or not, she looked worse about 2 weeks before.


To further demonstrate how fast this came on her at that time, this is Emily on Easter morning.

And Emily less than a week later, so swollen that none of her clothes fit her anymore. This outfit was actually the best thing we could come up with because literally NOTHING fit her. We took her to the doctor, and that's when they found the liver enlargement.


She remained swollen thoughout April:

But was back to normal by May:


And since then, we've learned that it doesn't do it nearly as bad if we treat it with oxygen, although nobody will give us a reason for that. But it's happened over and over since, and she will puff up a few pounds, then lose it. Nothing as severe as that first time.

Here she is on vacation in Florida in July:

And then a few days later:


And there are many more examples, but I think you get the picture. She wakes up one morning all puffy, then one morning some time later, she'll wake up and be back to normal. The left arm and left leg are bigger than the right when she's like this. Not huge differences, but about an inch in her arm and a little under 2 in her leg.

This last example is due, at least in part, to steroids. None of the other examples were though. Emily at her brother's birthday party Feb 12:

And then 2 days later on Valentine's feeling absolutely miserable!


Part of me wants me to allow allow them to convince that she is just a chubby kid and all this is normal. But then I hear the way she breathes..... And when the doctors were telling me she breathes that way because of air trapping and it wasn't something fixable, then it was a little easier to ignore it. But then they tell me now that her symptoms are not caused by her lungs, then someone please tell me what is causing them.....

So what do you all think? Am I overreacting?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Catching up



It must have been week before last that I first noticed little changes in Emily. She wanted oxygen on more, was a little more short of breath than usual, and just not quite herself. Then on Monday of last week, I noticed little wheezes, which were treated with Albuterol and went away. Monday night, she had a pretty fair bit of trouble while she was sleeping, and I had to turn her oxygen up to keep her oxygen levels in the mid 90's. The extra oxygen helped a lot, and she settled right down. Tuesday, Emily returned to school, and as the bus driver dropped her off that afternoon, she told mom that Emily had been breathing very hard at school and had to use her inhaler. Mom called to tell me this but said she seemed okay to her. When I got home Tuesday night, Emily was coughing her head off and wasn't feeling well at all. As the evening went on, Emily's sats dipped lower and lower, and by bedtime, her sats were 90 on her normal amount of oxygen, and she was not moving much air at all on the left. When she did get air through, it would sound like a very long low-pitched moan, but most breaths, there was no sound at all, not even air moving. And her work of breathing was awful. Very scary!

I've seen this before, and it almost always affects that left side moreso than the right. Not sure why the left. It also responds very well to steroids. I immediately turned her oxygen up, gave her albuterol, and ran downstairs to get her some steroids. I had to dig through the medicine cabinet and combined the remains of 5 bottles to get a teaspoonful, which is what I gave. Within a short time, she was breathing much easier.

She stayed home from school on Wednesday and went to her pediatrician, where they determined that Emily had likely been exposed to the flu, which had set her off. They put her on prednisone and Tamiflu, and she is much better already. Still coughing a lot, and now suffering from steroid side effects (tearfullness, moodiness, anger, flushed face, hunger, stomach upset, hyperness, elevated pulse, etc.). She is miserable from steroids, but she is doing a lot better. We definitely have a steroid love/hate relationship. Love what they do for her, but hate what they do to her.

Yesterday was Braylon's third birthday, and also Denny and my 12th wedding anniversary. We celebrated last night with a little party for the Bray-man. Mom and my sister Michelle came over, and we all had pizza and cake. Braylon got a big wheel and a few little trucks, and he was soooo happy. He played with his toys while the rest of us played Wii. Had a great time!

Then, of course, Braylon didn't wake up on his own this morning. Fearing he might be ill, I woke him up at noon, and sure enough, he was wheezing, coughing, had a fever, and then as time went by, ended up throwing up. So I fully medicated him, and he is feeling much better now.

Pulmonology appointments for Emily and Braylon are scheduled for a week from tomorrow. Fingers crossed that everyone gets back to normal soon. We're so ready for warmer weather!!!