Just a Cold?

Well, actually, yes, it's just a cold. John has been fighting the thing since last Monday night and it looks like he's finally winning. It took us forever to understand what just a cold can do to John, after all a cold makes us miserable for a few days but then life goes on. For John whether there is snot yet or not a cold always starts with puking, I don't quite understand the mechanics behind this but just like the cold virus attacks the mucus membranes in sinuses and nasal passages for him it hits his intestines first making them just not work as well. His belly starts to swell up with stuff that's not being processed and he starts down the puking road. The height of the puking was last Wednesday, a record 15 times, and today we were down to just once this morning so far. What is making the big difference between the just once this morning and the only once from yesterday and in fact the last couple days is that this just once occurred with him on full g-tube feeds. It's the first time since last Monday that he's been able to tolerate full g-tube feeds, which actually makes sense after all what little kid, or adult for that matter eats as much with a cold as they do without. I always thought that had as much to do with not being able to taste things as anything else, but after all this time with John I'm beginning to think that there are times when our bodies just know that food is not going to be tolerated as well.

We're taking John in for follow-up labs today. Monday's weren't horrible, but they weren't stellar either. But over the weekend not only had he been puking a time or two a day, but we'd also been letting his little belly drain and having to shut his feeds off, or turn them way down and running him a hydration solution for hours trying to keep up. Lol, through all of this John has actually been doing great. There was only a couple days where he just felt bad and didn't want to do much, and yesterday he was in fine form and showed me that he can reach all kinds of stuff in the house that I never dreamed he could get, open file drawers and bring me files, rearrange furniture and all kinds of good and silly boy stuff.

John did have his first physical therapy session on Monday and I'm very pleased with what went on there. We have seen this particular therapist in hospital a few times in Columbia and several times during John's developmental clinics too. It is nice to see someone who realizes that while John may need to develop muscle memory to learn a new task and that might take a good deal of practice, that other things are learned instantly and nothing is ever forgotten. She does think that John needs braces again, but this time a lower one that just supports his foot and ankle and keeps his feet from rolling in. I'm looking forward to seeing her again in a couple weeks, and better even than that I'm sure that John will be excited to go too!