First the good news!!

If you know Alex at all he has had a tendency to get RSV and pneumonia A LOT in his short little lifetime. Because of this we have had the blessing of having a pulse-oximeter continuously in our home for about 7 years now. Love it!! I know it sounds silly, but it truly has saved us many a trip to the hospital, as well as countless other friends and family members who have had pneumonia or children with RSV. Just hook them up to the monitor, and you know where you stand.

Until a few weeks ago when Morgan had RSV and they took the monitor to the doctors to compare and it recorded much lower than the doctor's did. Sad day. The pulse-ox had died - or at least gotten tired. So the good news is... we are getting a new pulse-oximeter!!!

The bad news is the reason we are getting it so quickly is Alex has had pneumonia for a week and a half! :( He went to school one day and was fine, and by the next morning I could tell it was bad. Took him to the doctors, and they put him on oxygen 24 hours a day, then did a chest x-ray. Went to the doctors almost everyday for the past week and a half to check his levels, and make sure he is improving, which he's not. We had to put him on steroids 2 days ago. "So what?" you may say. A lot of kids are given steroids when they have lung issues and it clears it right up. Well, first of all, this is Alex we're talking about. He doesn't do things the way most kids do. #1 - the diabetes HATES steroids!! Hates, hates, hates!! His sugar levels have been from 350-600 (normal is 80-180) and that is with tripling his insulin doses. So of course he has been a little grouchy because I'm sure he must have a headache with sugars that high. #2- after being on the steroids for 2 days, his oxygen levels are finally at 91 on room air (that's OK - could be better, but has been worse) but he still sounds 'thick' in his lungs. He will have to do a full 5 day dose of steroids- which means a full 5 days of bad sugars.

He really is acting good and happy, though. In fact, one day the attendance office at school called and he answered. "Helllllooooo!" "Is your mom there?" "Yes! Hang on!! MOM! It's a very nice lady on phone!!" "This is the attendance office calling. Why is he out of school?" "I'm keeping him home sick." "He sure sounds good on the phone. Is everything all right?" "Yes, thanks for asking. He is on 2 liters of oxygen and can't move across the room without huffing and puffing. Pneumonia will do that to you." "Oh. I'm sorry. I had no idea." (That's partly my fault because I let his teacher know he wouldn't be there, but not the office. My bad.)

Now for even better news!! My sister / brother-in-law adopted their first child last week! Welcome to the family McKay!!