Home at Last

Traxton was finally released from the hospital yesterday. He hadn't had a fever since Friday and nothing had grown out on the cultures, so we were kicked out. As we left the hospital, I realized that Traxton and I hadn't been outside for six days. We caught a flight and were home in less than an hour. Traxton couldn't decide what he thought about our ride home. He was really excited until take off, then he turned very serious and wouldn't talk at all. Once we landed, he became happy again. He had a weeks worth of energy saved up and pretty much let it go at the airport. People were staring, but I didn't care. I knew how much he needed to run around.
It was so good to be home and see our family. They picked us up with balloons and flowers at the airport. It was a sweet reunion.

Traxton's head is still swollen, but they told me it probably would be for a while. He is not suppose to wear his processor on that side because of the swelling, which makes me a little sad. He has to take antibiotics twice a day for three weeks to clear up all the infection. Other than the large bump on the side of his head, he is completely fine. It has been so fun to watch the kids play with him. Treyson and Traxton have been pretty much inseparable. I can tell that they really have missed each other.

Hospital update # 5

I know I have said this before, but we are hoping to get released tomorrow. Traxton hasn't had a fever since Friday and his lab values all look really good. The only thing that hasn't come back is the cultures they took yesterday from the fluid on his head. The infection control doctors have been involved with his case and are saying if nothing grows on the culture, we can go home with oral antibiotics. If something grows out, they will place a picc line for him to continue the IV doses. We should know more in the morning.

Today was another rough day for me. For some reason I couldn't stop crying. Traxton and I went to sacrament meeting here at the hospital, and I think everyone was wondering what was wrong with me. I think being here for a week has really started to wear on me and having Jared leave was a lot harder than I thought it would be. He always holds me together. Every time I start to struggle and ask why we have to deal with one thing or another, he simply says, "because we can". He always helps put things into perspective.

Traxton is getting irritable with being here too. He has turned into a little diva. He won't do anything by himself and quite likes being waited on. I can't wait to fix that one when we get home. He has gotten a lot better with the nurses. He doesn't cry when they take his vitals anymore, but he still doesn't like when the IV is started. The only thing that makes it easier for him is the warm packs. We spend most of our time walking the halls and playing in the playrooms. Even that is getting a little old for both of us. I really hope this is our last night. I love my little man, but I am getting quite sick of being kicked in the back all night. We have to go visit these fish about 5 times a day. He loves them.

Change of Plans... Again

We almost were released yesterday. We were actually packed up and ready to walk out the door; yet here we still are. The doctor came in last night and said since he hadn't had a fever all day, we could go home. We cleaned up our stuff and they took out his IV. Right as we were going to take a load of stuff to our car the nurse came in and wanted one more set of vitals. They took his temp and he had a fever. Seriously, talk about major let down. So we unpacked our stuff and stayed for hopefully our last night.

Well this morning the doctor came by and said we would not be leaving for maybe a couple more days. They want to continue him on the IV antibiotics and aspirate his head again. They also had been in contact with the infection control doctors and felt like sending him home now would make it possible for the infection to get the upper hand.

When they did the aspiration, the fluid was all puss, which is not a good sign. The doctor wants to send it off to be cultured, which will take a few days. They are trying to decide if they want to send us home with a picc line so Traxton can continue his IV antibiotic treatments, or change to oral antibiotics.

Jared ended up going home today. All week we have been in limbo with having him stay or go home for Ashten and Treyson. We kept thinking one more day and then all of us could go home. This morning we both really felt like he should go home. Our kids have been well taken care of, but they need their mom or dad. Having him leave was not an easy thing. I knew he needed to go, and we will be fine here, but I'm still quite emotional about it. I really wish that we all could go home and be there together. I actually can't stop crying... I know that so many people have things 100 times worse off than me, but I keep wondering how I can be strong enough for the trials that seem to come. I wonder why my baby has to keep going through things. It doesn't seem fair.

As I sit here watching the snow storm out our hospital room window, I think how similar life is. Days like today I feel like visibility is limited and the conditions are a bit hazardous. But I know the sun will come out again and make things bright. In the meantime, I will have to rely on another Son, the Savior, to lighten my burden and help me continue on. I am so grateful for my testimony and understanding of the atonement. I know that Christ suffered for not only my sins, but also for my sadness and struggles. He loved me, insignificant me, enough to do that. That knowledge alone helps move out my clouds of despair.

Traxton's progress

We really hoped to be going home today but because Traxton had a fever yesterday, our plan was changed. Our surgeon said Traxton has to go for 24 hours without a fever before we can be released. We are crossing our fingers for tomorrow.
The surgeon was a little concerned that his head still had some fluid in it, so last night he aspirated it with a needle. The fluid was mostly blood, which means that the infection was clearing. On Tuesday the doctor did the same thing and didn't get any blood out, it was all yellow fluid.

Traxton's blood levels looked really good this morning and he seems to be feeling much better. We have spent the day walking around exploring the hospital. Traxton is becoming much more comfortable with the nurses and he loves to see the fish painted on the walls and floors on our unit.
We are really anxious to go home and see the kids. Our family has been amazing to help out with them all week. I don't know what we would do without them.

Hospital update

Traxton is responding really well to the IV antibiotics and they were able to stop one of the two he was getting today. His white blood count has continued to decrease, but it is still a little elevated as well as some other blood values. They want to keep us here a little longer to see how he responds with the lower amounts of antibiotics, and then transition him to an oral dose. We are crossing our fingers for a trip home tomorrow.

We've found out recently how serious Traxton's condition was and how lucky we were to have caught it so fast. Cultures had started to grow in his blood and he was starting to become septic. This means that the infection was on its way to becoming wide spread. If this would have happened he would have had to get his implant removed. We have been told over and over how close he was to being a really sick little boy.

Traxton has been a trooper during this ordeal. He hates when the nurses come in and he cries the whole time they take his vitals. He also hates when they have to hook up his IV. The only thing that makes him feel better is covering the IV site with a heating pad. He will lay really still and keep the heating pad on his arm long after it has gotten cold. The nurses are so nice and keep a box of heating pads on the counter for him.

This place is AMAZING!!! The nurses, techs, and volunteers are constantly checking on us and making sure that we don't need anything. They have brought Traxton coloring books, play dough, and a huge train set. He also has endless amount of choices for food and snacks with only a phone call. Yesterday I ordered him some chicken nuggets and asked if they had any ranch. The guy said, "mam, this is a children's hospital; we get ranch by the bucket full." They really know how to take care of little ones.

Traxton loves to sit in this window and look out at the cars driving by.

Unexpected & Unwanted Vacation!!!

Last Thursday Traxton started getting an ear infection. Since he still had the tube in his ear, the infection simply drained out. His pediatrician started him on some antibiotic drops, which usually clear up his ear infections quickly. Since he didn't seem bothered by his infection, I didn't really worry that it hadn't cleared up as fast as normal. The odd thing about this particular infection was the amount of drainage. Usually it is just a thin liquid that would drain out at night. This drainage was very thick and came out all day long. By Monday morning when it still hadn't cleared up, I called our Dr. again and he added an oral antibiotic. By that night he was running a high fever and acted really lethargic. Tuesday morning he seemed fine, but I noticed his head was swelling on the side of his infection. This was the same side that he had the hematoma after his surgery. Luckily I was able to get him an appointment with his doctor right away. Our pediatrician was really concerned, so he called our surgeon in Salt Lake. The surgeon said he needed to be seen either by him or by an ENT in St. George. I opted to stay in St George and see the ENT there. The ENT was really good and worked us in almost immediately. As soon as he looked at Traxton he said we needed to go to the ER to run some tests. The ENT met us at the ER where they sedated him and drained some of the fluid through a big needle. Traxton also had a CT to check if the infection had compromised the implant or the bone where the implant is secured.
The fluid removed was infected and he had a super high white blood count. He also had signs that the infection was in his blood stream. Because of all these issues, our surgeon wanted us in Salt Lake. Thankfully, we convinced them that we could drive ourselves and didn't need to be flown.
We came to PCMC last night and they admitted us right away. They suctioned out his ear to remove some of the fluid and continued him on IV antibiotics. Originally we were afraid that he would have to go into surgery to either clean out the infection, or even remove the implant. This morning our surgeon said it didn't look like we would have to do that. His fever is gone this morning and his white blood count is down a little. We will just keep him on the antibiotics for a few days and wait for the blood cultures to come back.
He is feeling much better today and is more like himself. If he didn't have needles in his arms and was constantly being pocked and prodded, he might think this was a vacation.
On a side note, Traxton started whimpering and crying when we pulled into the parking lot. I think he remembers this place. Poor kid.

Sweet Voice!

Lately we have been hearing so much of Traxton's sweet voice. He is hearing so well and he has made even more progress with his talking. He is hearing so many things around the house and it is so fun to watch him when he learns what is making the noise. Last week he heard something and he thought it was an airplane. I listened and couldn't hear an airplane, the only thing I could hear was our fridge humming in the other room. We ran in and sat next to the fridge for a few minutes so he could hear it better and learn what was making the noise. I couldn't believe he could hear something that soft from so far away. I love it!!!

He hears the phone ring and will now try to answer it. The other day I picked the phone up downstairs and he was already talking on the phone upstairs. The poor lady was asking him to get his mom. I have to race him to the phone when it rings. I love it!!!

My most recent favorite thing is that when you call his name, he answers with the cutest sounding "what". He actually can hear when you call his name from another room and will come towards you. I love it!!!

Traxton is getting much better with his talking too. He mimicks words when we prompt him and, although they don't sound perfect, he is getting a few of the right sounds. My favorite is when he says "see ya" it comes out "ee ya" and is always in the sweetest little voice. I love it!!!

We do hours and hours of therapy a week. Between the three therapists he sees and the things we do at home, he is kept pretty busy with practicing. He is such a good sport to cooroperate, most of the time. Considering all he wants to do is be a crazy, 2 1/2 yr old little boy, I'm quite impressed that he will sit still for our sessions. Part of me wishes he could be a crazy little boy all the time who didn't have to sit and pay attention through all of our therapy sessions, but I also know that it is these sessions that will help him learn to listen and communicate. I think that I am learning patience as much as he is learning anything.

We love our little guy more than anything and it has been so fun to watch his progress. It is so fun to watch him get really still, open his eyes wide, and point to his ear to indicate that he hears something. I get so overcome with gratitude when I watch him experience sounds and when he continually jabbers and sings in the car. His constant noise would totally drive me crazy if I wasn't so happy to hear it.

Even with all of our struggles, I wouldn't change anything about him. He is perfect. I love HIM!!!