Halloween 2012

Here is Carson as a walrus.  He didn't want to sit still so this is the best that we could come up with.

Good News

We got the results from Carson's latest throat culture.  He's MRSA free!!!  Two oral antibiotics and one topical one and it's gone.  We are so excited. 

WOW!

Despite being on antibiotics for over a month and an ER visit, Carson had an amazing CF appointment today.  He was 32 lbs. 3 oz. (a gain of 3 lbs. in three months) and 37.01 inches tall.  His height to weight ratio, which should be over 50%, was 71% and he had a BMI of 62% (which should also be over 50%).

We have to wait about a week to see if he got rid of his MRSA.  If not, they won't treat it and it will just be considered part of his normal flora in his lungs.

ER/Hospital Vist

I got a text from Carson's daycare provider on Thursday afternoon saying that he wasn't feeling the best, but wasn't running a fever.  When I picked him up, he was perky and playing outside.  I got home and he started to moan and cry and said that his tummy hurt.  He had a low temp, so I give him so water to sip on.  He calmed down and watched some Blues Clues and relaxed on the couch.  About an hour later, he started the crying again as we were getting ready to eat.

He never calmed down even though he had some heat on his tummy and cool on his head.  I ended up taking him to the ER around 9:30PM.  He got an x-ray which showed a blockage in his intestines.  They gave him some medicine to prevent him from throwing up (which he never did) and some morphine for the pain.

At 3AM, he got a CT scan to check on the blockage in more depth.  It was gone thankfully or we were being admitted and transferred to Children's for surgery.  I was given the choice of taking him home and trying to deal with the pain or admitting him for some observations.  I choice to admit him.  We got settled in our room in the hospital about 4:30AM.  He was given two IVs to keep him hydrated. 

They took all of his meds so that they could process them in the pharmacy, which ended up being horrible.  It took forever for them to get them back and I finally fed him some of the meds I kept in my purse because he was hungry.  He finally was approved for solids around 3PM.  He wolfed down his macaroni and cheese and chips in record time.  He were discharged at 6PM since he was eating and keeping food down.

And now today, you can see he feels better...

Playing at the Park

It has been so nice lately.  Carson and I stopped at the neighborhood park on the way home for work the other day.  He LOVES the big twisty slide.

Reading Buddy

Carson loves his baby.  Here he is reading with her.  He was making sure she was on the right page with him!

Throat Cultures

At every CF clinic visit, a nurse will swab the back of Carson's throat. It takes about a week to get the results back to see if he has cultured any nasty bugs.  He's been pretty clean in the past.  He cultured staph once, but we were able to clear it up with antibiotics by his next appointment.

In July, Carson cultured a really nasty bug for CFers--pseudomonas.  This has been found to lead to lung function deterioration.  I was really upset when we got the call about it.  Most CFers will culture it at some point, but I didn't want it to be this early.  Carson was put on a 28-day regimine of TOBI, which is an super expensive ($1,600/month) inhaled antibiotic as well as an oral antibiotic. 

We had to wait a week after he completed his medication to get another throat culture and then another week to get the results.  The results came back on Monday and Carson got rid of it!  But...he has now cultured MRSA (which is a drug-resistant form of staph).  This poor guy can't catch a break.  He was put on an oral antibiotic and a cream we put up his nose twice a day.  I got another call on Thursday that they would like to put him on a second antibiotic now.  The main antibiotic that they use for MRSA is bactrim, which Carson is allergic to.  After the doctors did more research, they decided to add this additional med to help make up for the one he can't take.

We'll know if he gets rid of it after his October clinic visit.  If he doesn't, they will just consider it part of his normal flora (bugs he just has).  They will also not treat it again unless he's showing some symptoms.  As of right now, you'd never know that he had pseudomonas or MRSA.

Zoo

Emily and I took Carson to the Lincoln's Children Zoo this morning.  Since it was going to be a bit cooler today, I thought it would be a great time to go.  Carson was excited, but didn't want to look at anything for more than a second.  He wanted to see the donkeys--he thought that the horses and goats were donkeys. 

We ended our short trip on the train.  He loved it!

Carson Loves to Read

Carson loves his books.  Here he reads a book about animals.  Sadly, he thinks the zebra is a horse.

This is Carson reading Where's Spot?  He has found Spot in the basket and is very excited.  By the way, he's read this book a million times, but still gets excited about it.

Fun in the Sun

I bought Carson a new swimming pool this summer.  The first day, he would only stand in it and he absolutely hated sliding into it.  Fast forward to a few days later, he will now jump and and slide on in!

Day 1:

 

Day 2:

Old Becomes New--Part 2

The other thing Carson has inherited is a 1950s mini dining set.  It was covered in mold, the chairs were rusty, and the vinyl was damaged.  I spent the afternoon cleaning it and recovering the chairs with new vinyl.  I think they look pretty good.  Carson immediately wanted to sit at it.  So, I let him eat dinner at it tonight.

Old Becoming New

 Carson got a "new" toy from great grandma's house.  It's a retro helicopter that makes sounds and the propeller spins when it is pulled.  Carson loves to run around the first floor pulling it behind him.  It's so nice that a classic toy is still entertaining in this world of high-tech toys :)

Feeding Pooh

Carson put his Winnie the Pooh bear in his booster seat and asked if he could feed him apples.  By apples, he means applesauce and enzymes.  I washed out Carson's oatmeal container from this morning and he fed Pooh.  Then I had to get him some milk too.  At one point Carson said "Oh man!" and wiped Pooh's face with a bib.  I guess Pooh is a messy eater :)

Carson and his buddy Eli

We have a neighbor across the street that has a little boy about four months younger than Carson.  We are all ready predicting that they will cause major problems together in the future!

Carson and the Kitties

There are some new kitties at Grandma and Grandpa Strader's house.

 

Sadly, Carson tries to squish the poor kitty:

April CF Clinic

Carson had his routine 3-month check up at the CF clinic today.  He's up to 28 pounds and 35.15 inches.  He's shot up in height, but not weight.  His weight to length ratio is 43%.  Carson is following his growth chart nicely.

Easter Craft

Today must have been an arts and crafts day at daycare.  Carson came home with this...

 We've named it "Creepy Cyclops Egg Guy." Carson called it "baby." Minus the hair, it could be Mike from Monsters, Inc.  He will proudly sit on a shelf on the hutch until he starts stinking or Dame eats him.

Spring Break Update

Due to a week of different events, our plans for activities got changed.  Carson's daycare had a breakout of various illnesses--RSV, bronchitis, sinus infections, and ear infections.  Carson caught something.  Children's going to treat it as an upper respiratory infection.  He's been really hacking stuff the past few days and was put on an antibiotic.

Despite him not feeling 100%, but acting like it, we got outside today to do some swinging and chalk drawing.  He ran around the backyard as if he'd never seen it before.

2nd Birthday

I know it's late, but I just got these pictures from Chris.  Here is Carson enjoying his birthday cake.  He was very careful to only eat the frosting.

2 Year Photos

Thankfully, Emily assisted me in getting Carson's 2 year photos done...finally.  He's such a wiggler that it is really hard to get him to look at the camera.

Great Strides

The annual Great Strides walk for Cystic Fibrosis will be May 19th at Holmes Lake.  The walk will take place at 10AM.  There are snacks before and lunch following the walk.  Last year, we raised over $2,100.  Let's shoot for $2,500.  Please join our team by clicking the link at the right.  Together, we can make CF stand for "Cure Found!"

Spring Break

I was planning on spending my spring break potty training Carson.  Nope, not going to do it.  He's pretty much done all ready.  He's dry all day and is finally going at daycare now.  He just needs to work on pooing at daycare and staying dry at naps and overnight.  That I can work on. 

I bought some sidewalk chalk and we'll do that this week.  We may also go to Lost in Fun (if I'm bored) and possibly the Omaha Zoo.

Weekend of Potty Fun

We continued our little pre-potty training work this weekend.  Carson had a few dribbles in his pants today, but peed in the potty multiple times.  Granted, most of them were a few dribbles, but he did have a bigger one before dinner and during/before his bath.  He really likes flushing the toliet and washing his hands.  I plan on having those be incentives for him.  He even stayed dry for a diaper-free four hour nap.  I will do a hard-core potty training in three weeks at spring break, but for now, he's at least registering what it feels like.

Potty Time

I was giving Carson his bath tonight.  He said potty--his potty is next to the tub.  I put him on his potty and waited.  He got up to mess around, so he went back to his bath.  A couple of minutes later he asked for the potty again.  I put him on and he pulled the towel up over his legs and just sat.  He looked really serious and then I smelled it.  Carson was really proud of himself.  Hopefully he will continue to ask to go and we can get potty training done by summer.

Ball Pit

Grandpa Hermsen thought that Carson needed a ball pit.  Here is how many balls come with the pit:

 

 Here's how many balls grandpa thought we needed:

Sadly, there could be more....maybe another 150?

Here is the pit in action.  Notice that Carson goes and gets the balls that fall/get thrown out.