Done with the Swine Flu

I am very happy to report that we are now Swine Flu free! LB did catch a mild case, and spent an evening in the ER, but for the most part he was fine. A HUGE blessing!

LB is doing okay. He has been nauseated again quite a bit, but that is a problem we will be dealing with for a long time, I think. He has a very strong desire to start eating, and can get down a few spoonsful at a time, but the mental effort it takes to eat wares him out quickly.

I used to think that all we had to do was make it through chemo, and then he would be better, but I've come to the realization that even after that we have a long way to go to get our little guy walking, talking, and eating again. I had a dream the other day that he was back to full health, talking and walking around. It was wonderful! I wish that dream were a reality right now, but I'm afraid it will be a few years before it is. But as hard as it is for me, it has to be even more frustrating for him to not be able to communicate the way he wants to. We have been working on ASL, and that helps some, but I know that there is so much more he would like to be able to do and say, and just can't. Someday.

Swine Flu Hits Home

Yeah, so, our 1 year old tested positive for Swine Flu today. He is through the worst of it, and it is too late to start him on the vaccine, so we'll just have to plow through it with him, unfortunately. Luckily, LB hasn't gotten it yet, but the flu has an incubation period of up to ten days, so we're not out of the woods yet. We have a call in to PCMC to see if they want to put him on a preventative vaccine. We are really hoping he doesn't get sick!

Second Chemo Treatment

Our sweet boy had his second chemo treatment late last Thursday/early Friday.  He did so much better this time than last!  Something I was very grateful for.  He didn't get nearly as sick or nausiated.  What he did get was a super cool new cow flashlight to help make his chemo stay a little happier.  It is a cow with a flashlight inside of it's mouth.  When you pull the handle on it's back, it's mouth opens, the flashlight turns on, and it moos.  What more could a little boy ask for?

Even though the treatment went better, little buddy is still nausiated enough that he can't tolerate his food, so we have him on IV fluids to keep him from getting dehydrated.  The nausia usually lessons after about 72 hours, so we are hoping he will feel even better tomorrow.

Hangin' with George

Dinner!

Little Buddy did great on his swallow study! He can have pureed foods, so this is his first time back at the dinner table. Does he look excited? :)

Ben on YouTube!

Here is YouTube link to Ben on TV.  I'll post the video directly to the blog as soon as I find out how. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwOO3VJICCE

TV mixup

Sorry for those of you who missed LB's TV debut!  The paper that we were given listing the time he would be on was wrong.  (The person in charge felt VERY bad!).  He was actually on at 12:45.  But we have a great friend who was able to make a digital copy of it, so we will post it on the blog as soon as we have it.

As for LB's state of health, he spent most of the week last week in the hospital.   He had three separate blood infections, two of them quite rare.  But he is home on IV antibiotics, and we are still on schedule for his second chemo treatment this week.