A "Little" Cold

It has been a busy few weeks.   After Thanksgiving we all have been passing around a little cold, and even as careful as we have been, little Kai caught it as well.  It is his first cold, and it has been rough.  It is an upper respiratory cold which is a good thing, because it has stayed away from his chest and lungs.  However, he has had so much mucous in his nose and throat that he coughs.  He has deep rasping almost mucousy sounding coughs but when listening to his lungs, they are clear (after suctioning).  He is also wheezing as he breathes and he has slight retractions (indication that he is having to work harder to breathe than he should).  His yeast infection, which was almost completely cleared, has taken off again, so that his poor little bum is raw and bleeding. 

Our first indication that Kai wasn't feeling well happened Thursday, when I noticed that he had a slight runny nose and was coughing slightly more than usual.  Since we had also had a dramatic decrease in temperature at the same time, I thought it was just a sign that I finally needed to turn on the heater (Kai's machines generally keep the living room at a nice 68 degrees).  By Sunday his condition has worsened to the point where we were going to take him into an instacare, but he settled down by the time we were getting ready to go.  First thing Monday morning I took Kai to his doctor's and he was diagnosed with just a "little" cold.  He said that the only thing we can do is increase his oxygen and increase our suctioning.  Because his lungs sounded clear, there was nothing else we could do at that point.  If we give him antibiotics, it will make his bum worse. 

For his part, Kai has tried to rest, but about a  month ago, he developed sleep apnea.  He doesn't stop breathing, but his breathing either becomes extremely shallow or extremely slow.  Either way, it results in a dramatic decrease in his oxygen saturation levels.  When it first started happening, I thought it was just sensor malfunction.  So, I cleaned his sensor then a couple days later changed it.  The apnea happened so infrequently at first that when I would tell others about it they also just wrote it off as sensor malfunction and none of us were too worried.  Over the last few weeks, however, the apnea has become more consistent and even the nurses are noticing.  It happens when Kai falls into a deep sleep; his sats will slowly dip to 92, 88, 85, 83, 79, 77, 72...  There have been times when I have waited to see if he will pop back up, which rarely happens.  So, I do something to stimulate him.  Usually I rub his back or change his position.  Combine his apnea with coughing, and poor little Kai can't get into a good sleep.  Either he will drop his sats or start a coughing fit.  Then add in his raw bum, so every time he poops he cries because it hurts, and it hurts worse when we clean it.  The prescription we have to help it (one oral one topical) also stings when applied so he screams and writhes in pain whenever we change his bum.

It is so unfair that he has to go through so much with what he already has going on.  I cannot express how grateful I am for the gospel in my life and to know that there is a purpose to all of this--even if I can't see it clearly now.  I am grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation; I couldn't imagine going through all this without it.  I am grateful for J, who has been a source of strength and a rock to lean on.  This has not been easy for either of us, but together we can make it through.