Another Brady Update

It's almost 11:00 pm and really, I don't have time to write on here but I really wanted to get a Brady update written down.  We had our follow-up appointment at the pulmonologist yesterday.  I was very much looking forward to seeing the doctor and getting the results of the tests given to me in English.  Duncan was going to try and meet us there but unfortunately it didn't work out with his schedule in the end.  So it was me with the three kids (Elaine is out of town).

First off was the weigh-in.  I was holding my breath.  This kid is nursing eight times a day to try and fatten up and it gets pretty tedious, quite frankly.  Don't get me wrong. I like the nursing and bonding and all that but when you're wanting to get out there to do stuff with the girls, it messes with your schedule.  At any rate, he gained 5.5 ounces in 14 days.  A website I use called, kellymom.com, states that from 4 - 6 months, a baby should gain between 3.25 - 5 ounces per week.  Obviously we are below that but compared to gaining nothing, I'll take it.  His weight is 12 lbs, 15 oz.

Next, she listened to his chest and stated that she actually couldn't hear any wheezing.  Now, I now that he's still wheezing from time to time so she must have just caught it at the right time.  She said there was still mucous but not as much.  His ear infection was gone.

Finally, she left to go get the results of all the tests while I got out my pen and paper.  Sadly, I pulled a "Melanie Brace" and it's possible I threw it away so I'm giving this to you all from memory.

• The x-ray showed no signs of pneumonia but it did show that the walls and pipes were thickened which is consistent with asthma.  I asked her why the x-ray back in mid-August did not show that, or at least, nobody told me that.  They had said at that time that the x-ray was consistent with the Bronchiolitis diagnosis.  She said it's possible that it had gotten worse since then.   
• She confirmed that he did not have cystic fibrosis.  
• The bloodwork was negative for any allergies.
• The bloodwork was positive for the Epstein Barr virus which means that he DID have mono (I did not understand that from the non-English speaking doctor who called with the results).  She said it would have been 6-8 weeks prior to the bloodwork which would place it around the end of August, beginning of September. Of course, the first thing I think of with mono is fatigue which I didn't notice.  But apparently the symptoms in infants are milder.  The doctor said that mono could have caused the coughing, mucous, ear infections, etc.  
• The bloodwork also showed that he has a low level of t-cells which are cells that help fight infections. She said he could have a low level because of his age. We will wait for a month and do the blood work again.  If they still show low t-cells, she'll recommend we see an immunologist.  
• Our next appointment is November 29.  Until then, we are to continue with the steroid through the nebulizer twice a day and the Prevacid (reflux) twice a day.

I asked her if she was pretty confident, following the x-ray results, to say that he definitively has asthma.  She didn't say "definitively" but she's pretty certain.  We're still hoping that the mono is what has caused all this and it will just go away.  We do think the frequency with which he wheezes and coughs has decreased.  

Since it's so late, I'll just quickly touch on a few other things.  Monday night, we went to the church for Trunk or Treat.  Not being celebrators of Halloween, this was definitely a nice alternative.  Numerous people set up displays in their trunks (hence the name) and kids could go from car to car playing the games, etc.  And yes, the reward was often candy so we couldn't escape from that.  Our game was that you had to throw a hula hoop over a pumpkin.  I kept backing the pumpkin up farther and farther away so it got more challenging.  It was definitely a popular game as kids were lining up the whole time (from 6 - 8 pm).  Unfortunately I didn't foresee how tiring it was going to be to pick the hula hoop up off the ground a million times.  Thankfully Duncan and I switched half way through.  The girls enjoyed themselves and brought home a bunch of candy that they enjoyed looking at, touching, smelling, the whole nine yards.  Ninety eight percent of it they won't be eating if I have anything to say about it.  As I discussed with another parent, you put it on top of the fridge and then in about two days they forget all about it.  That's where ours sits.  I'm hoping they inherit my genes.  I don't like candy!  

Oh, I almost forgot.  Monday morning we went to a pumpkin patch at a church in Longwood.  It was absolutely pouring rain out but a few other families (Bergherms, Hilliards, & Zbaraschuks), toughed it out with us.  We were able to hang out under a covered area of the church and they put on a really nice little program with stories and games.  In the end, the kids all got to bring home a couple of pumpkins.  No rain was going to keep us down!

When you try and buy a pumpkin on October 31, it's not necessarily the best selection that remains.

Just a few little conversations with Calleigh to end things.  We were in the car the other day and she says to me "I'm sick of sitting in the back."  She sits in the way back while Brady and Aubree are in the middle.  I ask her why and she says "Because people keep saying, 'Where's Calleigh? Where's Calleigh?' So I say, "Well, who is saying that?"  She says, "Aubree."  "Anyone else?" I say.  Dead silence.  I guess Aubree constitutes "people."  The other thing is that I think I need to stop watching House Hunters with her.  Today she informed me that we needed to have eight rooms in our house because, as she put it, we need a room for "instruments, a chalk wall (she saw an episode where someone had a whole wall made of chalk), a play room, one for drums (I guess that's different than instruments), a bedroom, a school room, and a library because I would like to go in there and read."  That's only seven rooms so I'm either missing one or she miscounted.  Apparently these eight rooms would be in addition to the rest of the bedrooms, kitchen, family room, etc.  From your lips, Calleigh, to God's ears!