Follow Up on the Cough

I took a half a day and took Elijah to the pulmonologist on Wednesday of last week. His breathing test was not as good as the one he had back in March. The doctor decided to put him on steroids for five days and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic as well. He also increased his inhalers to 4 puffs 4 times a day for a week of albuterol. Then for another week it would be three times a day and then back to two times a day and only two puffs.

I kept him home on Thursday, because he didn't sleep well and I wanted to get in breathing treatments over just using the inhalers. I also knew he would be wound up on steroids and he was. By Saturday, the cough was about the same so I filled the antibiotic prescription. Today was the first day that I haven't really heard him cough much. He it using his inhaler at school with the nurse watching him to be sure he is doing it correctly. I am glad he is over this hump. He has not had issues like this in a long time.

We already had an appointment for June 9th and we are keeping that one as a follow up for this cough as well as a typical check up. I am fortunate to have a doctor who is very pro-active when it comes to asthma! Some people wonder why I keep using a pulmonologist, and not just my pediatrician and this is why!

Elijah has a Cough

Elijah has a cough. It is most likely due to the change in the weather. The rain came in and so did the cool air. He has had the cough since Sunday. If he were a typical kid, I would just keep an eye on him and give him allergy meds, but this is Elijah. His lungs are not at 100% and may never be at 100%. His premature birth and being on a ventilator are the reason for issue with his lungs. He was on a high frequency ventilator for five days and on a regular ventilator for seven more days. The ventilator saved his life, but it also damaged his lungs. Thankfully, he has not had a cough or issue for over a year. I will call the pulmonologist tomorrow morning and see what the nurse thinks. I gave him a breathing treatment Sunday night, last night and again today when I got home from work. He will take another one before he goes to bed. I have also given him Mucinex.

I know I may sound like a hypochondriac when it comes to Elijah and this cough, but if I am not vigilant he can get sick very quickly.

PROM!

Here are some pictures of Jacob and his date, Nikki! They were taken in downtown Wylie. They are going to the Olive Garden to eat and then on to prom. I have to say they both look  very nice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowing Down....A Little

I have spent the last five years rushing through life. In fact, I have probably been rushing through life for the last 14 years, since Elijah was born. Parenting two boys, especially one with special needs, is no easy task. Elijah came home on oxygen and has always needed more attention than a typical child.
I work full time and have been mystery shopping for the last four years, and now I am in grad school.

I just started getting child support again back in January, and I think I can finally slow down a bit and not work so hard. Of course, I will keep teaching and working on grad school. I am slowing way down on mystery shopping. I am finally at a point where I feel like I can slow down and enjoy the boys and spending time with my honey. Time has passed too quickly with Jacob and I want to be sure I can spend time with him and Elijah this summer. I am so used to rushing around and working so much, that I hope I can make myself slow down and smell the roses!

Rite of Passage

"A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's transition from one status to another" as quoted from Wikipedia. Jacob has been experiencing many of these and has many more to come. My brother took him to buy his first real suit two weeks ago. Jacob will pick it up next week. Today I met him at Al's Formal Wear to reserve a tuxedo for prom. Prom will be a HUGE rite of passage for Jacob. I am excited that he is going! Graduation will be another rite of passage and then starting college.

 

I can't wait to see Jacob in his tuxedo. He choose a Zootux, which is similar to a zoot suit. It should go well with the 1920's theme for the prom. I can't wait to post pictures. This is a picture of similar to what he will be wearing, but he will also have a vest. The vest and the tie will be navy blue.

 

 

Mischief

The definition for mischief is--playful misbehavior or troublemaking, esp. in children. This definitely describes Elijah these days. He is not misbehaving to be mean or cause trouble, he is just being a kid and accidentally breaking things or driving me crazy. I think it is a mix of his Tourette Syndrome, OCD, ADHD and being  TEENAGER. I hope I can survive these teen years.

This mischief usually occurs when he is bored and doesn't have much to do. I may be busy with house work, grad school work, or just WORK in general. He has too much time on his hands and I am too busy to notice this mischief. After two days home with him on the weekend, I am ready to go back to work.

One day he will finish growing up and move out (I hope at least) and I know I will look back on these days and laugh. I will not want him to move out and have him be my little boy forever. I guess I should enjoy these times now and be glad he isn't out causing mischief, and is just causing it here at home.

What is Tourette Syndrome?

I have blogged a great deal about Elijah having Tourette Syndrome, but I don't think I have ever defined what it actually is. According to this website  the Tourette Fact Sheet, http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tourette/detail_tourette.htm, it is "s a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics."

That seems like an easy definition to understand, but then you have to ask yourself....what does a tic look like? This is not as easy to define, because they can be different for each person. Right now Elijah has a tic that is very LOUD and sounds like "ahhh, AHHHHHHHH". He will do this over and over again, and is also humming a great deal. His other vocal tics include a very loud raspberry noise, clearing his throat and snorting(even though it is not really vocal, it is a sound). His motor tics include licking his hands, rubbing his face, making a mean face(again, this is hard to explain, but it is different from his usual face he makes when he is mad), slamming his leg down when laying on the floor, chewing on his shirt, and slamming his hand down. He sometimes slaps himself in the face, but this is rare.

One reason I wanted to define Tourette Syndrome and explain tics, is because an incident at school this week. Elijah has a new teacher that has replaced one of his other teachers. She had written on his status sheet that he was making RANDOM noises during class. He would not stop when asked. When I saw this note, I emailed his case manager at school and asked if this NEW teacher knew Elijah had Tourette Syndrome. The case manager then sent my email onto the new teacher, who emailed me back later the next day. She said that the noises he was making seemed INTENTIONAL and that he could stop them when he served his Take-5, which is a 5 minute time out. So I emailed her back and tried to explain more about Elijah's tics, and she had even asked me for help understanding Tourettes in her email. However explaining a sound in an email, isn't always easy. I sent her my telephone number and asked her to call me this coming week.

This is a video done back in the summer of 2010. Elijah's tics are much better now, but these are some of his more extreme tics. He is on different medication now.

Here is another video of him with his tics. This was also taken back in 2010.