Day 122 - Can't get enough of Children's Healthcare

     Because I haven't written in the blog since last Monday there have been quite a few developments.  I'll begin with the most devastating and impacting.  On Tuesday evening Cristy's mom lost her lengthy battle with cancer.  Although she had been sick for a while it was still a shock to the system and one that we had to absorb and figure out how best to help the family.  Cristy flew up to provide help for her brother Thursday night and had to come back earlier than expected this afternoon.  More on that later.  While the world she leaves behind is a little more boring, we take solace in that fact she's no longer in pain and can rest in peace.

Eating junk and playing video games.  Does it get any better?

     With Cristy out of town and me ill prepared to handle two kids, one with special needs, and work remote on Friday, I asked my parents if they could take Nolan off my hands for a few days.  They were happy to oblige and he's back at home as of this morning; no doubt heavier from the multiple bowls of ice cream he consumed.  Thanks again to my family for assisting us at a difficult time.

     Friday morning Evan and I went to physical therapy and I felt like he was doing really well during the entire session.  To keep the momentum going Cristy and I bought him the Wii Fit balance board and game.  It's a fun way to work on balance and burn calories and is used by the CHoA therapists.  The therapist felt that Evan has lost a significant amount of muscle mass in his right thigh and gave us some exercises to try to strengthen it.  Until his next session that will be my primary focus as it feels like he's almost ready to turn the corner.

     Evan's appetite has been waning as of late, so in an effort to improve it I took him grocery shopping Saturday morning and let him pick out his meals for the weekend.  We also picked up some Ex-lax to get things moving if you know what I mean.  The day started off slow with Evan showing a reluctance to eat and exercise, but that all changed when my friend Mike and his family stopped by.  Evan immediately switched into his party mode (I wonder where he gets that from) and showed a much stronger desire to exercise, walk and eat.  Unfortunately the day wasn't a complete success like I was hoping.

     On Saturday night / Sunday morning Evan developed a temperature of 102.  He was sleeping in the bed with me and rolled over placing his head on me.  I knew instantly that he was running a fever, but got the thermometer to confirm.  After a call to the CHoA on-call they asked me to come in as a precaution.  We pulled in around 2:30 and they were already awaiting our arrival.  If there is a silver lining to this unexpected visit it would be that his vitals, aside from temp, were all normal.  His heart rate was slightly elevated, but with a fever this is expected.  The medical team drew some blood and administered a dose of the antibiotic Zosyn.  Because he didn't appear in distress we were discharged around 5:00, but we're awaiting any results from the blood cultures.  Cristy was concerned with this and changed her flight in order to get back home.  As I write this at 4:00 on Sunday the Pruitt clan of Kennesaw is back at full strength.

Awaiting word from the doctor on next steps.

     Today has been very challenging.  Evan has been more nauseous than normal and has vomited any food that I've attempted to feed him.  Until more data suggests otherwise I'm going to attribute it to the Zosyn.  He's still resting and we'll see how he feels afterwards.  The Ex-lax also seems to have done the trick so it could be a hangover from that.  This is purely opinion on my part, but it seems anytime he goes to the hospital that he becomes very resistant to our exercises and treatments.  It almost seems like a mental block on his part where he reverts back to the sick patient.  Cristy and I hope that overtime these trips become more routine and he's able to quickly adapt to home life and the routines that we have developed.

Mr. Chatty talking with the nurses.

     So what is next?  Evan has a blood check appointment on Tuesday, followed by what I assume would be the official scheduling of his next round of chemo.  With flu season upon us I'm a bit concerned so if I go into hermit mode don't be surprised.  For my friends I may request a clean bill of health from a doctor before you can see us.  I'm kidding of course...or am I?