It all started a couple weeks ago with the fever Mitchell came down with. He hadn't seemed himself and when taken to the pediatrician it was determined he had a sinus infection and pneumonia. The antibiotic worked pretty fast, but gave him terrible diarrhea. The diarrhea made a pressure sore he had (his 2nd) worse. At a follow up appointment for the pneumonia, it was found he had an infection on his finger. He was immediately put on a different drug plus a topical antibiotic. I was wary about the oral drug because I noted it was a sulfa drug and I've heard people can be allergic to them. Sure enough after being on it for 24 hours, I came home from work to find his face red, warm and swollen. Fortunately we did not have to take him to urgent care. Just gave him Benedryl then back to see the doc in the morning. The test results from the infection lancing were in. It was definitely MRSA - if you don't know that's the superbug that's causes all sorts of trouble. Because Mitchell already showed an allergy, it was quite a puzzle to determine what drug could help him get rid of the infection. The pediatrician consulted with Infectious Disease at Cincinnati Childrens that recommended a new drug often not yet covered by insurance. If we couldn't get it approved, Tetracycline was an option, but since Mitchell is under 8, it was known to certainly weaken both his baby and adult teeth and make them yellow. Mitchell's teeth already have issues, but we didn't want to knowingly give him another strike against him. And, if we had to throw money at something, we'd prefer it be a piece of equipment or something else more lasting. Fortunately our doctor persisted and through appeal we got the expensive medicine approved and staved off yet another potential hospital visit. He's now on this med, called Zyvox. He's been fussier, but otherwise, he's doing okay.
I said it was eventful!
I suppose all this isn't so bad. But I have to admit, I found myself losing my cool. A lot. Well, a lot more than usual. Everyone was well meaning, but through this ordeal it just felt like I was being peppered with questions, advice, requests and information. For instance, during all this Mitchell went to get fitted for new orthotics. The process has changed and he had to go through a whole new physical therapy consultation. Subsequently I was given all sorts of recommendations for Mitchell from seeing new doctors to putting a block in his orthotics to giving him Botox to help his tightness in his feet. Certainly backed by good intent, I was in a mode of needing to get things done to help Mitchell. Less in a what-if/let's see mode. Orthotics are still not on order. Errr.
I suppose I was angrier than usual not liking the arrival of new complexities in Mitchell's life. We were doing quite well with the existing complexities thank you.
Maybe as a couple people have suggested, I've been a little bit in denial about how challenging Mitchell is.
I'm working through it, thanks to good listeners like my mom and my friend Mia, the stability of our sitter Janine and unexpected blessings like dinner from Peggy and bed padding from an experienced special needs mom, Cyndi. Oh and through precious moments with Luke that would make anyone melt.
I'm writing this so I remember the next time Mitchell's situation changes abruptly I can learn from this and adapt a little faster. We're still not done with this chapter, there's still paperwork to complete and about $1750 worth of his $2000 medicine still to be administered. But I'm choosing to get back to seeing the blessing in these hardships. I am mom to two sweet and handsome boys and I have a partner in Chris that eases the load. And somehow my Christmas shopping is done and my Christmas cards mailed. I'm still me!
No comments:
Post a Comment