Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Back in the Hospital

Titus has been home for the last 8 days and has been doing great. It's been great to have him home.

We have started a series of doctor's appointments and follow-ups with the various doctors. Today, Titus spent about 4 hours as they reviewed the status of his jaw. His jaw looks awesome - and we will continue to turn the screws for one more week and then stop, allowing the bone to buildup and fill in. Dr. Genecov is pleased with the progress and how much his jaw has pushed out. It truly is amazing and I will have to send out before and after pictures for you to see.

But today, when Becky returned home, she was noticing how tired he was and his little cough that he had this morning was starting to sound worse. While feeding, his breathing got worse and he turned gray. Becky called 911 and the paramedics were there instantly. Prior to coming home, Becky and a friend visited the local fire station to inform them of Titus since they would be the responders in the event of a call to 911. As only God would foresee, the team that responded tonight was the team that Becky had visited with several days ago. TItus pinked up upon giving him oxygen, but after conferring with the doctors, it was decided to take him back to the ER at Medical City. Upon arrival, they immediately tested him for RSV (a nasty respiratory virus that's common this time of years for infants) and he tested positive. Titus was given Syngesis, a vaccine for RSV, several weeks ago, but as they told us, the vaccine does not prevent the virus, but hopefully will make the case and symptoms less severe. Since the first 72 hours of RSV are the worse, they checked Titus into the Pediatrics ward at Medical City Children's Hospital. This is the same hospital we were at previously. They are giving him nebullizer treatments every 3 hours and suctioning him as needed while they have him hooked up to the monitors. As the hours progressed, we could tell he was feeling more and more puny, and we realized that we got him to the hospital just in time as it looks like he is just now really coming down with the virus. I came home to be with the boys tonight and just checked with Becky before going to bed. They are trying to determine whether or not to take him to the Pediatric ICU (PICU) or leave him there. One of the issues with RSV is that breathing becomes difficult for the infants - so they just stop. If they are going to put him on a CPAC breathing machine, he will need to be in the PICU.

Please pray specifically for these items:
  • The next 72 hours are the roughest for Titus - pray that the vaccine he received will keep the symptoms light. Pray for TItus breathing, his strength, and his rest.
  • The RSV virus last for 3 weeks - this does not mean he has to stay in the hospital for 3 weeks, but we know it's going to be awhile before he's back to his old self - but we pray for complete healing in God's timing.
  • Strength for Becky and I as we again make the trips back and forth to the hospital
  • Comfort for Aidan, Noah, Tucker and Cade as they get shuttled around a bit over the next few days
  • Praise for his jaw as it has improved his breathing dramatically. If he had gotten RSV any sooner or prior to surgery, he would be struggling so much more. Pray that the bone will begin to form and harden.
  • The team of doctors/nurses overseeing his care. Since we are in the Pediatric ward now, it's a whole new set of nurses and doctors that we will be working with.

As I told my parents tonight when I got home - this is just part of the journey for Titus. We know there are going to be events like this for him and today was just one of those things that's going to happen. I was so proud of Becky and the boys (and my parents) for their response as they called 911 and the paramedics arrived. Everyone was calm - which is how I want my boys to learn to handle emergencies - with a calm heart, urgency in action, and a call to prayer. I'm so reminded of 2 Cor 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Fixing our eyes on what is unseen,

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