H1N1

On Sunday, Ben and Will both woke up with a low-grade fever and had it most of the day. 99.5 for Ben and 100.5 for Will. Will also woke up with a dry cough. I called Will's pulmonologist and he told me to keep an eye on him and call back should his fever go up. On Sunday evening - sometime in the night, Will ended up in our bed. Around 5:30 am - he started coughing. But his cough was different, it was more wet. He was tossing and turning. I reached over and felt of his forehead and he was burning up. I took his temp and it was 104.2. I gave him tylenol, put a feverall patch on his head, started his breathing treatment and called the pulmonologist. He immediately called in tamiflu and said i should give him a dose of Motrin and watch him.

At 9am - the pulmonologist office called me and said they had a 10:30 appt and he needed to come in. At the doctors office - Will didn't have a fever and didn't seem to be sick! He was bouncing off the walls. They did the flu swap and it was definitely positive for H1N1. They gave him a breathing treatment, a dose of tylenol, his tamiflu dose (which I brought with me) and sent us home w/a plan for the upcoming days.

On Tuesday morning, Andy woke up with a low-grade fever (99.5). I called the pediatrician and got an appt. for him. They did the flu swap on him. They said it was positive - but just barely. He was in the first 24 hours. Thankfully - I took him in early. They prescribed Tamiflu for him and then also for Ben - to prevent him from getting it.

Luckily our family had the H1N1 vaccine on October 14. The boys had their first dose (still need the 2nd). Will and Andy didn't seem to feel bad really. There were a few times where they seemed a little down. On Monday - Will acted a little sick, and on Tuesday - Andy did. But other than that - there really wasn't much downtime for them. They both got a little cough and sounded hoarse on day 3. But that really was all there was to it.

So far Ben hasn't caught it. I'm praying he doesn't. He's had a little cough - and they've all had a junky nose.

Will's surgery (a scope)

I didn't explain to Will what he was having done. I didn't tell him that he was having surgery or even that he would get an IV. He is very much afraid of pain and very emotional when it comes to things like this. So I told him that they were going to take a picture of his stomach. I left it at that - and he was ok with it.

We got to the surgery center (thank goodness he can't read : ) at 7:30 am. We checked in and they took him back pretty fast.

They gave him a DVD player and let him pick out a movie. His movie of choice: Polar Express (one of his favorites).


Getting ready to go back and get the surgery done. He doesn't look happy, does he?



Back in the surgery room. They told him to "blow up a balloon". This would happen by him putting on a mask and inhaling the sleepy medicine. He stopped half way through and said "I don't want to do it anymore." The doctor said "a few more times." Once more and then he was out. They looked at me and said "Ok, mom - see you in a bit." It was so difficult to watch him go under the anesthesia. I definitely had a hard time leaving him there.

I shut off my flash for these pictures (should of adjusted other settings - but no time) - because they had Halloween lights on the wall. It was really cool.




After surgery.... still alittle asleep. They gave him a "pink" popsicle (as requested). He had a hard time eating it, but he did finish it : )


Alittle more awake - but freeeeeezzzzzzing


Back at home. Laying on the couch eating a frozen gogurt.


On the way home - he noticed the bandaid on his hand and asked what it was for. I tried to change the subject. He said "why does it hurt when I push on it?" I told him what really happened. That the blowing up of the balloon was really sleepy medicine, the bandaid on his hand was from an IV, the procedure was surgery and they put a tiny camera down his throat to look into his stomach." From that moment on - he kept saying "I can't do that - I had surgery. You have to do this, because I had surgery." Nice - huh? Totally worked it to his advantage.

The doctor said he would lay around all day and be tired. NOT SO! She said no activity that required balance until tomorrow morning. He kept sneaking onto his scooter when he went outside to play with daddy and his friends. Boys! Boys!

The surgery was a success! The surgery center was fantastic! From the moment we walked in - it was geared towards kids. A very fun, kid-decorated place. It was all to make the kids as comfortable as possible - and it definitely worked. Will was very Brave!

An answer to the stomach pains????

Will has been having 'stomach issues' for about a year now. It has not been consistent - just randomly throughout the year. A few weekends ago - his stomach started hurting and hurt consistently all weekend. On Sunday, he told me that he may have swallowed a rock at school on Friday. He wasn't real sure and couldn't remember - but thought he did. I wasn't sure if he did or didn't - but the pain was pretty bad.

Sunday evening - I took him to the Urgent Care and they did an x-ray. The x-ray looked normal - no traces of a rock.

Monday morning - he had a check-up with his pulmonologist. So I told him about the stomach pains. He wasn't sure what might be causing it, but thought I should take him to see a GI doctor (luckily I had already made an appointment for Wednesday).

Monday afternoon - we went to the pediatrician. I called them hoping there was some miracle medicine they could give him for the pain. She said she definitely needed to see him. She said "there was nothing else she could do - I needed to see the GI doctor." Seriously?

Wednesday afternoon - I took him to the GI Doctor. He saw this same doctor as a baby when he had reflux and the swallowing issue that he had. The doctor asked if I had tried prevacid - thinking it was reflux. I had and it had no affect on him. He said he needs to do a scope to see if there is an actual rock or something else causing the pain.

Monday morning - I took Will at 6:30 am to get his scope done. It was a fast procedure. The scope was normal. He said everything looked great, except his stomach was overproducing acid. Since we had already tried the prevacid and his pain wasn't constant. He gave me a prescription for Carafate. I am to give it to him when he has pain - so it coats his stomach. If the medication isn't effective - we'll have to go in for more tests. Hopefully, this does the trick. A combination of the medicine and avoiding juice, ketchup, tomato paste. Will isn't real happy about the juice and ketchup - but hopefully it's just temporary.

Will's trip to the ER

On Friday evening, Ben, Will and Andy were having fun playing in the rain. They were laughing and really enjoying themselves. It was time to come in and I wanted the boys to dry off at the door (as I'd just cleaned the floors to get ready for Andy's party the following day). Will was coming inside naked w/a very long towel wrapped around him. He tripped on the towel and fell on the hardwood floors. He hit his eye on the floor and it split just above his eyebrow. The verdict: 7 stitches.

First photo after the fall. My boys know if there's blood .... we must take a photo before we clean up. Have to document these memories....


Cleaned up a little.....


In the ER. When we first walked up to the doors, Will bolted in the opposite direction. He remembered having to get an IV for lung related issues. Luckily there were 3 policemen outside helping another lady to their car. One of them caught him before he ran into the street and the other showed him his scar from a injury he had in the same place. It helped to get Will through the doors.

Then - he had to talk to everyone, explaining how he and his brother were playing pretend pac-man and he fell and broke his head.


They put a bandage on his head w/numbing medicine, and then gave him a little something extra to drink b/c I told them Will was anxious and would be very difficult otherwise.


A pulse-ox on his toe.... he wanted me to get it glowing.


The doctor beginning to stitch him up. They gave him shots of numbing medicine in the cut. It hurt him pretty bad. But the doctor said "count to 10 and it won't hurt." it didn't take till 10 and Will was saying "this doesn't hurt. hey - it's ok - it doesn't hurt."


a close-up....


another....


After he was stitched up. I took this photo and showed it to Will. He said "Awwweesssssoooommmmeee. Thank you doctor." The doctor, still in the room had a big smile and said "wow, that's the first time I've ever been thanked for stitches." Will of course thought he resembled that of a super-hero.


All -done and enjoying a popsicle while we wait on paperwork....


The medicine that they gave him by mouth made him sorta act as though he was 'drunk.' He was so funny. He couldn't walk well - he was stumbling; his speech was slurred; and he was cracking me up. He kept asking why he was walking funny. Then on the way home he said "can we go back there again. that was so much fun. i want to go everyday! can we go back now?" i wish i would of gotten that on tape....

he goes back in 5-6 days (Thursday) to get the stitches removed.