Winter 2013-2014 Pneumonia

James has had a fairly healthy winter. Unfortunately a few weeks ago he came down with pneumonia. After 2 days of fatigue, fever and nebulizer treatments I took him in to the doctor. I honestly thought he was going to be admitted to the hospital, but he lucked out. His O2 sats were a little low at 93% but he was holding steady there. We increased his nebulizer treatments, re-started his asthma medications, started an antibiotic and a steroid. After 3 more days he finally was feeling better. We were fortunate enough to use Sanford's new Same Day in which you get to see your own physician on the day you call. I don't doubt other physicians but when it comes to James it really helps to streamline his care when we see his own physician. Normally I think most physicians would've asked for and x-ray and maybe labs but our pediatrician decided that no matter what the x-ray would've shown he was going to treat it aggressively anyway. James has a poor history of doing a very good job of compensating during illnesses. Which is good, but unfortunately at some point he can't compensate anymore and that's when things go south very quickly. We went for a follow-up a week after and the pneumonia was gone, but unfortunately his O2 sats were still only at 92%. We did an x-ray (which is not the easiest experience at Sanford SW Peds). The pneumonia is gone for sure but he saw a lot of inflammation which means that James' asthma isn't well controlled. We increased his Pulmicort and go back in a month for another check. At that same check-up we'll be checking James' weight. I think at long last our years of avoiding a G-Tube are over. If James' shows no weight gain by that appointment, it's time for a G-tube. Andy and I have mixed feelings on it, but we'll do anything that James needs.

Christmas Pictures

Driving, A Wedding and some ABR

I'm obviously WAAAAYYYY behind on this post. But here's a quick run-down of our summer vacation. We left on a Thursday night. I got off work a little early, but we only got as far as Watertown, SD. That left us with driving all the way to Clarksville, TN the next day. We drove straight south along the border of Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri and then over to Illionois and across Kentucky all in one day. Surprising our kids were amazing in the car. Having the DVD player in the van is a lifesaver for sure. The kids sure do travel well. Saturday we had some fun in the pool before getting ready for my cousin Troy's wedding. It was a great ceremony and we headed over to the reception that had an amazing view! The kids had loads of fun dancing and seeing their cousins. It was also a great chance for Andy and I to visit with some of my relatives that we don't see very often. Sunday we went to church but unfortunately had to get back on the road again right away. We drove to southern Georgia and stayed there a night. Monday we only had a few hours of driving and so we decided to stop at Daytona Beach to see the ocean! Elliot loved all the sand but wanted NOTHING to do with the water. James liked it all. James and I hung out in the sand and a little down by the water-but mostly I just sat on the sand and James laid in my lap and we played in the sand. I thought he might get upset because the sun was so bright but he did awesome. I tried my best to remember to pack everything. Well, I forgot floaties for the water, sunscreen, beach towels and hats!! We remembered Elliot's sunglasses and took a short walk to buy some sunscreen and beach towels...but still forgot to get a hat for James.He got to put his feet in the water and he got his legs covered with sand. Elliot only wanted to make a sandcastle. He also went on a walk with Dad down the beach to look for shells-no luck there. About the time we were leaving it started to rain so we finished up our drive to Ft. Lauderdale where we were headed for some ABR training. ABR training went well. This was Andy's first time. He got to meet the trainers and ask all the questions he'd been asking me for months (but wouldn't believe me when I gave him answers). We learned 6 new exercises. Wow-that's a lot of exercises. Our target is to spend 2 hours a day on James but we're finding it difficult. I am the one who is the most comfortable with ABR and the pushing drive behind it...but I don't see James :( The ABR time I do spend with him is while he's sleeping after I get home from work. We spent 2 days doing ABR and got in a little time in the pool while it wasn't raining. It rained, and I mean rained, all day both days. There were a few flash flood warnings around us. Unfortunately we weren't able to get out and see much because of the rain but just relaxing in the pool and hotel room was ok too. After ABR we headed back to ND. We made it in 2 days! We drove as far as Clarksville, TN the first night and then the rest of the way home the second day. It felt good to be home.

Halloween 2013

Once again Halloween (and a couple other holidays...) has come and gone and I haven't posted yet. This year the boys had fun again. I chose a fireman costume for James that I found at Costco. It was a great quality. The fabric was thick and it was made really well. I don't think even Elliot could ruin it. James wore his costume to school and loved it! His teacher told me that when they put him in his stander they put him in front of a mirror and he just couldn't stop looking at himself! HAHA! In the afternoon I was able to go to James' school and paint pumpkins with him in his "inclusion" classroom. James was way too busy watching all of his friends and did absolutely no painting. It was fun to see his teachers and classmates interact with him. His classmates and teachers really do include him and love seeing him! Elliot was the Red Megaforce Power Ranger this year. He talked about being Ironman (again) for months but when we went to buy his costume (also at Costco) he insisted on the Power Ranger. He loved it and later I found that I had extra costumes in the basement that someone must've given us last year (thanks whoever gave us those! I have no idea who it was!). Wouldn't you know that one of the costumes I already had was a Red Power Ranger! Elliot made Daddy put on the mask and be a Power Ranger with him for awhile. We chose to go to the mall again this year for Trick-or-Treating. It's easiest with James because there are no steps etc and we don't have to worry about that stuff. He wasn't into it much but Elliot loved pointing out all the other costumes and getting candy. James, as always, loved watching all the other kids running around and laughing. After the mall we took a short trip to see my co-workers. On the way home James and I dropped Daddy and Elliot off a couple blocks from home so that Elliot could do some more trick-or-treating. He loved going the houses and seeing all the decorations! All in all it was a pretty successful Halloween. Maybe James will be more into it next year...or maybe he and Mom will just hang out at home in costumes :)