Recovering

I’m happy to report that Lucas has been improving a little each day this week. We were pretty worried earlier in the week to see him so out of it from the medication, but slowly, he seems to be getting back to his old self. This morning he was really kicking and smiling, which is so good to see again. He still tires very quickly, as this happy stage only lasts for about 30 minutes, then he’s drained. He is still struggling to hold his head up, he always has it snuggled into my shoulder when I walk around the house with him. Of course, I love him all snuggled in, but not when it is because he doesn’t feel up to lifting it. We’ve finally weaned him off of Tylenol, another good sign that he’s feeling better.

He is also taking awhile to bounce back because he’s gotten a nasty cold – lots of coughing and congestion, and water eyes. Poor kid can’t seem to catch a break! Its kind of ironic, I spent the whole winter being germ phobic and protecting him from colds, and here at the end of the season, he catches something awful. The timing would suggest that he picked it up at the hospital, which is no surprise. With so many people having their hands on him, you can’t expect that they are as disciplined and rigid about spreading infections as the nurses in the NICU. I wish I could have stood by his bedside with hand sanitizer as the gatekeeper for every nurse and doctor that handled him. Ha.

We saw his pediatrician this morning, and it seems he’s on the tail end of the cold. We were concerned about his ears, eyes, and lungs, and they just wanted to get him checked out. They sent us home with some ointment for his eyes just to be safe for a few days, but said his ears and lungs were clear (whew)! Since he is already on nebulizer treatments every day, they said it is the best thing for him right now, and probably why the cold didn’t get worse in his lungs. With any mercy, he’ll really be back to being our little Lucas in a few more days. I spoke to the neurologist yesterday and she confirmed that the dose they gave him was very large and much quicker than they normally administer it, so she was not surprised he was very lethargic and "loopy" (as the exact medical term she used). They usually build up the dose slowly, but since he was having them so frequently in the hospital, they gave him the full dose right away. She said if he does not adjust by next week, then she’ll lower the dose after she sees him next Friday, but she fully expects that he will adjust with more time.

So, that’s the latest. A tough couple of weeks! Our nanny has even been upset seeing Lucas this way, she waited for our calls each day to update her when he was in the hospital, and she cried the first day she saw him after surgery, and has been very solemn since then watching him struggle this week. Sadly, several years ago she lost a daughter from cancer at 6 years old, so I think all this hits a personal place with her and she cares so very much for him. She always tells me he is a miracle and that she and her family pray for him every day. I found myself trying to comfort her this week, saying "he'll be ok"... strange to be trying to comfort someone else while I'm scared to death! But, just like us, I notice that she is in a much happier mood today because he is notably better. She's really special! We were supposed to travel to Alabama to visit Bran's family for Easter/Spring Break, but unfortunately one of Bran’s kids is sick today, so it looks like we’ll be hanging around here, which will probably be better for everyone. Maybe we’ll get our swingset put up for the kids in the backyard this weekend, after the Easter Bunny comes! Regardless, fingers crossed for a nice, easy, uneventful weekend!