Another Bump in the Road

Today was definitely not what we had planned. We thought Drake was suffering from allergies, but unfortunately it's a cold. A common cold is not a big deal for most people...not even a big deal for most children, but for Drake it's a HUGE deal. The first sign of trouble began with his elevated respirations, then his increased heart-rate, and finally his need for extra oxygen support. I contacted his pediatrician 1st thing this morning and she advised us to head to Dallas...deja vu...here we go again. I had a good cry as I packed our various bags in preparations for an unknown hospital stay. Packing was a fairly quick process because I literally have hospital bags prepped in our bathroom ready to grab and go from under the sink. We called his pulmonologist in route and he gave us some adjustments to make in the vent settings. These adjustments instantly brought his breaths per minute (bpm) down from 75 to 45. This helped ease my anxiety along our drive. My sweet mom and sister-in-law met us in the parking-lot at Med City to pick up Kennedy and our dog, Harlee. Brian met us at the ER as the medical team diligently worked through their parodical: an IV was placed, blood was drawn, swabs were taken, X-rays, cultures, ect...

A shot of steroids administered through his IV quickly took effect and he looked better within minutes! His chest X-ray looked pretty good...it actually looked better than his previous X-ray taken in March just before our move to (OCH) Our Children's House Baylor. Lisa and I were allowed to continue with our daily care and regular breathing treatments using our own equipment. Everyone was very nice and checked on us regularly. With the care we have in place for him at home, the ER doctor did not see any reason that he should have to stay the night! Not being admitted...this was a 1st that we could get used to for us! Drake will continue his steroids for the next 5 days and begin another breathing treatment/antibiotic called Tobi. He has been on this before at OCH and we are very familiar with administering it to him. And of course, we will be following up with our pulmonologist. 

It was heading out the hospital doors at 5pm that Lisa and I realized we had not eaten all day. I had to stop for gas and I loaded us up with some nice healthy convenience store snacks. I'm pretty sure that is an oxymoron. I'm not exactly sure how long they had been on the shelves at that Chevron station, but at that point they tasted pretty good to us! Lisa realized pretty quickly that I am not the best person to share Chex Mix with in the car...even while driving, I managed to pull out all of the brown crunchies and avoid the pretzels :) 

We were able to get his steroids from the pharmacy, but the Tobi has to be ordered because none of the pharmacies we contacted keep it on hand. Another problem...insurance doesn't want to cover the Tobi. This should be taken care of by tomorrow because both the pharmacy and I called the doctor and he is explaining exactly why Drake needs this medication. We are praying this will be sorted out and we will have his new meds tomorrow or by the latest on Thursday. We are staying the night in McKinney with Gran and Poppy...and daddy is here, too! We will be heading out in the morning after Drake's morning treatments and feed. Lisa and I will be taking turns tonight without our regular night nurse. 

On a brighter note, we had a fun Father's Day Weekend at home with Daddy and Papa. We FaceTimed Poppy while he opened his hand made card from Drake and Kennedy, which he loved! Daddy and Papa loved theirs, too! Aunt Gigi sent a blow-up pool for our backyard and Kennedy is a big fan! Drake even got to come out side and join us during one of his vent trials! We have been planning a family birthday party for this weekend and we are still hoping we are able to have everyone. These little babies turning 2 is definitely something worth celebrating! 

This little trooper never even cried at Med City. Not even getting his IV! 

Child Life brought in some musical toys during our stay. Drake seemed to enjoy them!

We replaced his mini button this week...it's new & improved...glows in the dark!!! We were pretty excited! 

Backyard pool fun!

Neighborhood beach club with mommy and friends!

Not quite sure who all of the other people were at the pool.

Snuggle time with daddy! 

A drumstick before bed...only because it's Father's Day and she is sharing with daddy.

Vent trial over the weekend! 

Vent trial...he was doing So, So good! He will work back up to where he was and surpass! That's just the kind of boy he is!