Bronchitis?

Doctor just came in to tell us Parker has a bronchial infection. That certainly explains the chronic cough and sore throat. Starting him on antibiotics today.

This is C.A. Appreciation Week. The C.A.'s are the people like Amy and Red who works as assistants to the nurses. They are like the glue that holds the rest of the health care team together. We've been so lucky to have really exceptional C.A.'s working with us: Amy, Red, Jessica, Ashleigh and so many more. I am going later today to buy a basket and fill it with all kinds of mini chocolates and will put it on the counter with a card of thanks for all they do for us. But I will also have to get cookies for Amy because I happen to know she has a thing for cookies, and she has been the ray of sunshine Parker has needed so many times.

Yesterday was incredibly busy. Before noon Parker had his wound-vac changed, a chest ex ray because he is still coughing up so much stuff and it turned yellowish green, a culture of that goop, and a respiratory therapy treatment which didn't seem to help.

We went back outside with Martin during PT after Parker walked about 35' WITHOUT the walker! That in itself was amazing. When we got back I had him sit up an extra 20 minutes so I could give him a very bad haircut.

Then he had all the regular doctors (internal medicine, surgeon and lungs), plus an hour long visit and consult with a pain management specialist. That was incredibly draining. The poor woman had been waiting in line most of the afternoon, waiting for all the other people to finish their tasks so she could talk to us and get Parker's entire history of pain, plus throwing up, plus anxiety. It was a highly thorough discussion, but there was a lot of talk about his weeks in ICU and the fact that he was so critical and almost died, so afterwards he was pretty drained.

Almost immediately Dr. Burg came in for a therapy session. Parker asked me to stay again because his throat is so sore from the tube and the coughing. This was another emotionally charged hour. Dr. Burg said there is concern that Parker's body is becoming physiologically dependant on the Dilaudid. This does not mean an addiction (he wanted to be very clear about that), it means he is requiring more and more pain medication to keep the same level of pain relief. His body is doing it to him. This upset Parker tremendously, he got weepy and a little defensive until Dr. Burg made it clear this is not like being a drug addict. It still upset Parker a lot.

There has always been a lot of talk in our household about addictions because of family history issues, so I think Parker is exceptionally sensitive to this The discussion with Dr. Burg ended up being very productive, but he reinforced what the pain management people want to do and Parker agreed.

We also spoke to Dr. Burg about my meltdown the previous day. I told him I didn't want to embarrass Parker by crying in front of all the people coming in and out of the room, and Parker reminded me what I always tell him, that this is their job and I cannot be embarrassed by it.

That's what you always tell me, Mom, when I'm embarrassed by things they have to do to me!

Parker's throat is very sore this morning and even though he had a Lydicain and nebulizer treatment, he is still coughing up a ton of nasty goop. Temp was up slightly this morning so I am going to ask Dr. Moore to request another white cell count, just so we know for sure.

The pain management nurse we spoke with yesterday, Phyllis, suggested we also get the GI doctor involved again to find out what the gagging and throwing up has been about (since he was 14 years old). Thank God! I have been asking doctors for years to look into this. There is still the thought it is anxiety related, which is fine, if we can fix it. Whatever we need to do.