Whew – what a long weekend! Thank you all for your positive thoughts and good vibes after Jax’s Emergency Room visit on Thursday night/morning.
He has bronchiolitis and a double ear infection and either pneumonia or a small part of collapsed lung. Say what?!? Apparently, pneumonia and a small portion collapsed of lung (called atelectasis) look the same on an X-ray. We are treating the ear infection and pneumonia with antibiotics (Cefdinir) and the bronchiolitis and atelectasis with nebulizer treatments (Prednisone (steroid) and Albuterol).
So…the little buddy is really sick! But, he doesn’t seem to mind…
Even though Jax is (mostly) his smiley self, we are worried. This sickness turned almost immediately into a lung illness, which is what we’ve been worried about since his initial diagnosis of Chronic Lung Disease in the NICU. Bronchiolitis, or the inflammation of the small airways in the lungs, is very serious. We were on lock-down all winter to prevent Jax from contracting this illness. Our pediatrician said “You should know that RSV and bronchiolitis are essentially the same thing. I’m telling you this so you know how serious this sickness really is.” (RSV is the leading cause of bronchiolitis, but Jax did not test positive for RSV.) We will discuss possible maintenance / treatment strategies at our next pulmonolgy appointment.
In the meantime, I will try to focus on the progress that Jax is making. Today, Jax has been able to go 4 hours between nebulizer treatments without wheezing. (The reason I brought him to the ER was because he wasn’t able to go 2 hours between treatments without wheezing.) It’s a fine line to walk: too much Albuterol can cause heart issues and an elevated heart rate. Too little medicine too soon and his airways could close. Our goal is to wean him off the nebulizer treatments by Saturday. So, the longer we can go between treatments without wheezing, the better!
I’m ok. I’m really tired, so I think maybe it’s coming across that I’m over-the-top worried. I’m not. I trust Jax. He’s proven to me sooooo many times before that he is stronger than I can imagine! It’s just my job to do all I can to help him get better so he doesn’t have to work so hard!
If you have a little extra positive energy, we wouldn’t mind if you sent it our way this week!
An Early Start 