An Update from the Homefront

Soooooo....let's see here. I suppose I should update you all on life around these parts. =)

It dawns on me as I review the posts since our last ER trip that Neil and I never told you Oliver's "official" diagnosis: pneumonia possibly due to aspiration (of his own slobber, I guess). Ollie never had a fever per se but we had been dosing him regularly with Tylenol and Motrin to help with his teething. (All four top teeth are trying to break through and have been for a couple weeks. Any minute now I expect to see a chomper on that upper gum.) He just finished his last dose of Augmentin last night. His secretions seem to be back to baseline (i.e., Ollie's version of normal). And he's also back to being his smiley, happy, talkative little self! With SMA, you consider yourself lucky to make it to 11.5 months old before getting your first pneumonia.

My cast came off on Friday 7/24. I may return to light-duty "work" with the restrictions that I should not lift or carry more than 10 pounds (Ollie's over 19 pounds now). I also should not do any repetitive twisting or turning with either hand. Makes for a challenging day, don't ya think? At least I can open my own soda cans again...hooray for small victories! I will be going back for yet another set of x-rays on 8/14. So far, it doesn't look like any surgery is going to be needed.

Due to my injuries, we got a temporary increase in nursing hours through CAP/C. They call them short-term intensive hours; I call them a godsend! We had been getting between 12 and 20 hours per week. Since my fall, we've been getting up to 16 hours a day which usually works out to 10am to 6pm (while Neil is at work) and then 11pm to 7am (overnight - so that everyone can get some rest). With Oliver's pneumonia, this was very helpful since he was getting albuterol treatments, CPT (chest physiotherapy), CoughAssist and suctioning about every four to six hours - including overnight.

Sadly, Grandma headed home yesterday (7/28). We had a great visit. She was a big help getting Oliver's room better organized, keeping the garden watered and harvested, mending clothes, and changing yucky, stinky diapers! Grandma also constructed a puppet show stage (out of a cardboard box) which Ollie and Mama helped to decorate with crayons. Ollie thoroughly enjoyed his Grandma's puppet shows.

I think that is all for now...I better scoot! Have a great day and thank you so much for keeping up with us.