Feeling a bit of relief

Feeling a bit of relief.  I have no clue that I have made the right decision or not but I am feeling peace (for now) about how to proceed. 

The quick version is ... there's a difference of approach on how to treat Manny's current condition.  One group says to treat aggressively, the other says a more conservative approach is best.  I needed a tie breaker.

So I emailed my brother in law, Pat.  He's a doctor of radiology and I figured he was uniquely qualified in that he knows me, what kind of Mom I am, Manny, and would be able to interpret the xray report for us.  Sure enough, he called and was a HUGE help.  First, it helped to know that this was indeed a difficult position to be in.  He concurred that there was some gray area here.  Eventually, after I gave him all the facts I knew, answered all the questions he had, he gave his vote.  The conservative approach. 

Why?  One is the actual radiological report.  Apparently, it says, "Sub segmental atelectasis" which is extremely "minor" and he felt we had time and that it wasn't a huge emergency that needed to have these tests and treatments done immediately or else. 

So while neither of us are 100% positive this is the right approach, we have decided to go with it.  I breathed a small sigh of relief for the tie-breaker.  And now I'm vigilent.

Meanwhile, I had about a 45 minute discussion with the Pulmonologist.  He was very steadfast in his position and I asked why he and the CMD docs were looking at it quite differently.  He basically said, "I know Manny."  (Which is true.) 

But ... he also wrote orders up tonight to help us a bit.  There was some gray area last night and tonight there shouldn't be hopefully.  We also discussed a few of my questions.  Like how can he be in respiratory distress while his pulse ox says 98?  Basically, the 02 number is about the inhalation.  The respiratory distress can be about the lack of exhale.  (Thus the CMD's recommendation about doing blood gases to determine.) 

I know ... it's all very complicated and confusing and it's even harder to describe from such a tired Mama. 

Meanwhile, this morning, Manny started with c-diff looking diapers.  They ran cultures and sure enough ... it's positive.  So we've started on more meds and hopefully this doesn't complicate his healing process any further.  He has started retching a bit more today (which might mean he has to go off feeds ... which would be BAD). 

Oh and for fun, they put a catheter in his pee to collect urine since his WBC was 25000 they knew there was a lot of infection somewhere. He did not approve. (This was before the c-diff was positive ... it's likely what contributes to the very high WBC.)


He's starting increased retching and more fluid in his stomach when I vent ... a LOT of fluid so I asked my brother in law and he said that gastroenteritis can cause that. So he might have a stomach bug on top of the collapsed lungs, the c-diff, bronchiolitis and sinusitis.


I will just have to see what he does tonight and we will go from there.  To me, he seemed a tiny bit better today so it might actually mean he's on the mend.  I hope so.

Baby just fell asleep so I'd better too!  Thanks for bathing us in prayers.  We can truly feel them and know we're not alone.  I might be in this tiny room in isolation but we don't feel by ourselves.  ((Hugs)) to each of you.














And he has conjuctivitis.







What else can go wrong with a kid? No, don't answer that.







Beth Gore