day 2.

well, we slept in a bit this morning, like till 8:30, which really is sleeping in for us (sad, but true). the nurse came in to do a vitals check, and guess what she found. a fever. again. 39.9C under the arm, which is 40.3C in "real" temp (for you non-metric types, that's 104.5F). i told her that this is the range where he starts to seize, so she shot him full of tylenol and we're keeping a close eye on him. and so far, no seizures, so that's good. as for his meds, she gave him the HCT and ramipril (diurretic and BP/function med), but alas, they can't do carvedilol here, so i had to race home to get our home stash. so that sucked, since i had to leave asher and pay for parking, but you gotta do what you gotta do, so off i went.

he got his breakfast this morning, which is exciting. i love that he can eat now, because it means he actually gets real food (or as close to it as possible in a hospital). breakfast this morning consisted of froot loops, 2 milks, a muffin, a piece of cheese, and some apple sauce. all he wanted was the froot loops (i'm so proud), although it's 12:30 now and he's barely touched them (i've eaten most of them). i managed to get some apple sauce into him, but i had to feed it to him, and he didn't take much. he just wasn't hungry. :(

cardio came to see him this morning, too. actually, it was the doc who was hghly recommended by dr buffo back in february. i really liked her. she took time to listen to me, she knows about asher, and she seemed to believe that he belongs here, at least for the time being, until we get the culture results back. she agreed that he needs to be here to get some antibiotics, and she reassured me that they're keeping an eye on him while he's here, and they'll be up tomorrow to check on him again.

then lunch came. cheese omelette, potatoes, veggies, pudding, grape juice and milk. he completely refused the potatoes (which were yummy, so i don't know what he was thinking! LOL), and the veggies (can't blame him there; they were pretty mushy and tasteless), and the pudding (which contains tartrazine and is in a BPA-full cup, so i'm happy he refused). he also refused the grape juice. and when i say "refused," what i mean is, he shook his head repeated and adamantly (given his lack of energy) and said, "nah. gross." gross! can you believe that?!?! what is wrong with this kid?! when i was a kid, grape juice was such a treat!! it was my favourite of the juices (b/c we didn't have fancy things like strawberry-banana back in the day)! can you believe this kid of mine?!?! i'm shocked and appalled. on the other hand, his refusal meant i got to drink his juice, so i'm happy. he wanted some omelette, but it had to be in tiny pieces, and he didn't eat much. probably only about 4 pieces, 6 at most, which is unusual, because he loves eggs. he just doesn't have an appetite. :(

and i can't blame him. he's so pale, he has no energy, he looks so terrible right now. it breaks my heart, to be honest.

at some point during the night, they must have turned his oxygen back on, but the resident came in and turned it off this morning, just to see what he'd do, and he's doing well without it, so we're happy. but we're keeping the prongs on him, because then he won't need the oxygen. haha this is asher. he likes to mess with people's heads. and i know that the second we take the prongs off him, he'll desat. haha so we're playing his game and keeping the prongs on. LOL

he's still getting his IV antibiotics. ampicillin and cefotaxime, for those who were wondering (i know someone asked, but i don't remember who it was, so i'm putting it here). they don't seem to be helping yet, but it hasn't been 24 hours yet even, so we'll have to see. but i'm a bit concerned about the extra fluid he's getting through the iv between doses. he's looking a bit puffier than usual now, and he doesn't pee as much when he's sick, so i'm watching and i'll mention it to the doc if he gets much worse. fortunately, fluid overload, while dangerous and loaded with complications, is pretty easy to treat, so it's not panic-worthy (yet).

and rounds this afternoon (gotta love the weekends, with lunchtime rounds, ugh!). the senior resident (whom we know well, and whom i really like) and the consultant (who's new, but seems nice enough) popped in, and they asked a bunch of questions, because no one can figure out what is going on with asher right now. they can't find a source for the infection, but they're certain there is something, based on his bloodwork. so they're going to do a nasal swab later this afternoon to look for a virus in there, because those can lurk without symptoms.

so that's the plan, as of right now. wait and see, run some tests. he's had more bloodwork today, and he'll likely have some tomorrow as well, just to see how things are progressing.

this is all so interesting, in some ways. it seems that every few months, asher comes down with the same sort of symptoms. but the consultant today did say to me, "make yourself comfortable." which means, they're keeping him until further notice. if we don't go home tomorrow (and i'm hoping we will, but if we don't) i won't be surprised. but as you know, i'll keep you posted, so check back often. talk to you later! :)