Just a Short Visit

Our home away from home, again.

Walking onto the fifth floor up from ER feels so natural. We were given our room number downstairs and my heart sighed, "Oh, good. Our old room!"

We were received with lots of familiar, warm smiles . Waves and hugs even. If we have to be in the hospital, at least we feel at home.

This stay should be one of the shortest. No infection, just dehydration. That has pretty much been corrected at this point. It only took an hour of IV fluids before Joshua sprang back to life. The dry, frail, tired little boy was once again perky, laughing and energetic.

What a relief!

Once the GI is certain his body is back in balance, we are safe to go home. Probably Monday. Not bad.

Justin and Caleb have been able to stay up here and I know that helps to keep Joshua's spirits up.

So, we're going home back on TPN. Oh, well.

I've finally come to terms with that. It's just not time yet. That's okay. His time will come. No doubt about it. In the Good Lord's care, anything's possible! He's taken care of Joshua his whole life. And it's not up to me to question His timing. Just gotta have faith.

Faith, what a strong trait. Faith and wisdom, we could all use a little more...

Seen better days...

Today started out with a bang! Let's see, it started at about 4:00 a.m. Joshua moaned and groaned all night. He was miserable. Tummy hurt, had to go potty, thirsty, leg hurt. You name it. At one point Justin had taken him to the bathroom and he came back to bed nearly in tears. Our little boy is withering in front of our eyes. Uneasy about the whole thing, I slept with Joshua the rest of the night. When our nurse got there he woke up. And when she brought him into the living room it was obvious he was going to the Emergency Room.

So I called the on-call GI and told him what was going on. He agreed, Joshua was going in for assessment. Upon arrival it wasn't long before we were back in an exam room. (Doesn't usually take us long thanks to Joshua's VIP status!) Labs were drawn as well as a blood culture. IV fluids started and an IV antibiotic just in case. We were able to wiggle into a radiology room for an upper GI, small bowel follow through. Which I think doesn't look much different from the last one we did in Sept., although I've yet to hear the final result.

So far what I know is Joshua's loosing Sodium and Bicarbonate. His body is way out of whack. Our goal is to get him stabilized. When metabolically he's off kilter, he's in pain, he's lethargic, he's confused and very irritable. Not my little boy at all.

He's definitely in need of some fine tuning. My prayer is for his doctors' wisdom in his care. Small changes can make huge differences.

Take the Good, Take the Bad...

Today we had a follow up visit with our favorite GI doc; we got good news and bad news.

The Bad News: Joshua possibly has some dysmotility happening and more than likely we'll be back in radiology this week for an upper GI small bowel follow through. Dr. O was examining his abdomen and we heard an odd swishing sound coming from his bowels. "That's not right." says the doctor. Hate those words!

BUT....

The Good News: Starting some new meds, one that should help increase his appetite and another that will decrease bacterial overgrowth.
AND there's a VERY good chance his central comes out THIS WEEK! Yes, you heard it here first folks, THIS WEEK! Yeah! I can't even wrap my mind around how great that is.

He is still having some issues with his blood sugar and if it continues, it looks like we'll be seeing and endocrinologist. (Joshua's blood sugar was 54 this morning.) But that may be circumvented with an idea the doctor had about Joshua's feeding schedule. We'll see...

Sugar, can't live with it, can't live without it.

Good News:
Our weekly labs show that Joshua's Electrolytes are completely normal! The thing I was most concerned about! Woo Hoo!


Bad News:
His blood sugar is low. It's not too surprising though, because over the last few days Joshua's been tiring very easily and has been extremely irritable. We'll be checking it three times a week to keep a close eye on it.

A Little Afternoon Bloating

It's been nearly THREE weeks without TPN. I don't even know how to process that fact. What an amazing feat! This accomplishment hasn't come without it's challenges though. Each afternoon this week, Joshua feels just terrible. His tummy is so bloated, he's nauseous and we're continually having to decompress his tummy to achieve just a hint of relief. The biggest blessing has been that he doesn't seem to be losing too much fluid, I think he's staying pretty well balanced. Hopefully some of this is his response to the warmer weather we've had recently or the change in med schedule, which I'm changing back to what we were doing before our last hospital stay.

At any rate, to date Joshua is still TPN FREE! We have prayed for this since Joshua was born. Caleb makes sure to keep Joshua on his school's prayer list, too! What an amazing older brother Joshua has. I feel that I don't write nearly enough about our two other sons. We've got such a smart, creative and active trio. The Lord has truly blessed us. Each is so special in his individual way. I'm so thankful for my boys. As chaotic and confusing as my life is, these little boys are the glue that holds me together! Thank you boys!

We Are Home!

Woo Hoo! We made it. The craziness of trying to get out of the hospital with all we've acquired over the last 11 days, trying to get things washed and put away, along with all the other normal insanity around here has left me exhausted. But, I just wanted anyone who checks up on us to know we are out of the hospital. We're home with 4 days left of IV antibiotics and on a two week trial to see if Joshua can handle the lack of TPN. Labs and weight should tell us soon enough. Keep the prayers coming for our little man!

Homeward Bound?

Well we just may be, if labs look good in the morning that is. So far Joshua's just done great without any IV fluids. It's amazing. God is good, thanks to all who continue to pray for our little guy.

To think, a couple of weeks ago I was so bummed about a hole in his line. What a disguised beginning that was to our step in the right direction. Just goes to show, what may look like a mess to us, is perfect and beautiful to the Lord!

Sometimes we need a swift kick in the pants! So, instead of complaining, let's all just see where that kick sends us!

Love you all!