It hasn’t been that great of a start to 2012 for little Miss Allison. She followed up the RSV in early January with a ruptured ear drum two weeks later, a vomiting cycle induced by an antibiotic that got her stomach going, a continued sinus infection, and several days of near dehydration. She has also been tolerating her formula less and less. Whenever she goes through a vomiting cycle, I have learned to cut off her formula and start Pedialyte via her J-tube until she starts wetting her diapers again; lately, whenever we try to switch her back to her formula, she vomits within an hour. Last weekend wasn’t so great. I had a suitcase packed and by the door for several days, thinking IV fluid would be needed to get her back on track. Fortunately, I was able to keep her hydrated with Pedialyte. After being an annoying mom, calling the on-call doctors on the weekend, we came to a plan to reintroduce formula back into Allison’s system quite slowly. A week ago, we had a 300 mL formula to 800 mL Pedialyte ratio, running at an ounce and a half per hour. On Monday, I increased the formula to 400 mL to 700 mL Pedialyte. I continued to increase the formula by 100 mL per day (which is a little over three ounces) until yesterday, when we finally made it to 100% formula. Although this plan seems to work (and keep us out of the hospital), one cannot live on Pedialyte, as there are very few calories. Fortunately, Allison could stand to lose a couple of pounds. Regardless, we are hoping that this isn’t a sign that she is no longer able to tolerate this formula. Of course this morning she woke up retching and gagging and ultimately, vomiting. A visit to the GI doctor is in ten days.
Wednesday was kind of a big day (by big, I think I mean “long”). Allison and I were in Ann Arbor by 7:50 am. We parked, loaded up the stroller, and made it through the new beautiful Mott Children’s Hospital in time to check in at Reception A, floor 2 by 8:00. Although her appointment was at 8:10, we didn’t see the doctor (Ear, Nose, and Throat) until nearly 9:00. He was obviously concerned by the ruptured ear drum (which was totally unexpected because she didn’t even have a fever – all previous ear infections in this house have been accompanied with a fever) and being the third ear infection in three months, she qualifies for tubes. He also said he’d like to remove her adenoids for sure, due to the continuous sinus infection and nasal blockage. Apparently her tonsils look better than they did before, but he said he might take them too. The doctor requested we have another sleep study before the surgery, so he can see just how troublesome those adenoids are. I set up her sleep study for Sunday the 19th in Portage. Luckily, I have PD the following day, so it won’t be such a big deal to be a little late. Then we will have a follow up with the ENT on the 29th to read the sleep study results and schedule her surgery.
One thing that has been on my mind all week was the idea of coordinating an imminent hip surgery with this tonsil, adenoid, tubes procedure, since both of those doctors are in the same building. We know her hip needs to be “fixed”, but we were thinking that was going to be further down the road, but when the doc asked if there were other upcoming procedures we could coordinate, I panicked a little. This would be a major surgery, one we hoped could wait until I am on summer vacation. Long story short, after many phone calls, the orthopedic surgeon is not ready to do surgery. She wants to give the hip brace more of a chance before doing any procedures. Fine by me.
Allison also had her second dose of Botox injections a week ago. After a brief panic about whether or not the antibiotic she was on would have a negative reaction to the Botox, she was all shot up (twelve injection sites) and we were on our way back from Grand Rapids. We go back for a follow up this coming Friday, the 17th.
Allison continues to do well in therapy (when she feels well). She is nearly sitting without support. I think if her hip wasn’t partially out of socket, she would have better balance. Her hands have gotten more coordinated, and her “ups” are getting stronger. I continue to be impressed with her determination and fighter attitude. She has learned how to “bite” on command, usually her pacifier or nuk brush. She did enjoy biting a carrot, but that freaked me out, and I took it away from her.
Our outstanding balance from the Mayo Clinic has been taken care of. They had one number wrong in our account number, so nothing was being billed to the insurance. The fancy stroller is also in her future, which means a new vehicle needs to be in our future. Bummer too, because we only have two payments left on the Highlander.
We have lots of appointments coming up. Luckily I have a better class schedule this semester, with three great classes of motivated students. I have more planning time, which has a hugely positive impact on my day-to-day stress. Mason has a bball tournament next week, and I have homecoming. The varsity boys are doing ok, despite a recent unnecessary recent loss. The tournament is right around the corner. Bring on the March Madness; God knows this family is used to everyday madness!
P.S. I've uploaded some new videos to my YouTube channel: a5odell. Check them out!
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