Another day, another doctor

Y'all, I think I'm going to have to change the name of my blog to "mother who spends her life in a doctors office with a sick kid"! Seriously, something has got to change.  Between co-pays and prescriptions for Jackson, I'm going to go broke! However, I have high hopes that things are going to get better.

During Friday's appointment with our pediatrician, Jackson got a cortisone shot and we were told that Jackson needed to be allergy tested ASAP.  Well Friday night was by far the worst night, ever! I expected the shot to help and boy was I wrong.  We rotated between breathing treatments, hot steam shower, the recliner, our bed and the couch.  Jackson's cough and wheezing was just terrible.  Words cannot describe the pain and struggle Jackson was in. Not to mention, he also ran 100 degree fever most of the night.

I'm no doctor, but since when do you run fever with allergies.  And if this was an allergy/asthma coughing attack, then his fast-acting rescue drugs should have helped, but did not.

Since none of us were able to sleep and staying inside didn't seem to help, we decided to walk in the Race for the Cure Saturday morning.  Surprisingly, Jackson did really well.  He coughed a little during the walk, but nothing at all like the night before.

Again, I'm no doctor, but if this was allergies then wouldn't he be worse outside with Spring in full bloom?!?

Saturday night was amazing, Jackson slept from 10PM straight through to 8:30AM.  Hallelujah, the medications must finally be working!!!

We all woke up Sunday feeling so refreshed and hopeful.  However, as the day progressed we were singing a different tune.  The coughing kept Jackson from napping and playing and he got very pissy.  The days of coughing were finally catching up to him and bringing him down fast.  With every cough, you could just watch him hold his chest in pain.  Talk about heart breaking and feeling so helpless.

First thing Monday morning, I called our pediatrician and told him something was just not right.  I begged for something to help Jackson's cough - he said to give him honey.  I mean seriously, honey.  I try and keep my blog PG, but I'm sorry, you've got to be fucking kidding me.

Well, all I can say is thank God for my momma! As I've said before, she is a pharmaceutical drug rep and spends her days with allergists and pulmonologists.  So literally within the hour, she had her top docs looking at Jackson's medical history and working together to figure out what in the hell is causing him to be so sick.

We were able to get in to see an allergist yesterday, and we finally feel like we're heading in the right direction.  Here's how our appointment went:

Is it possible that Jackson has allergies?
Absolutely.  He has a tone of clear mucus in his nose, which is causing a good bit of drainage down his throat.  

Are his allergies bad enough to make him this sick?
Not likely.  A child younger than 2 should not be this sick just from allergies.  There's something else going on here.

Does he need to be allergy tested?
Maybe, but again, we need to find out the root of the problem first.  And this isn't it.

Shouldn't his maintance (pulmacort) and rescue (Xopenex) medication work better?
Exactly, Jackson's on a very good dosage and he doesn't seem to be responsive to either.  We did a treatment in the office and confirmed that it didn't really help.  This would indicate that the big problem isn't asthma, which is a good thing.  I would love for Jackson to be asthma free!

So, what gives?!?
Looking back on all of the medications Jackson's been on since January, he was not properly treated for Pneumonia.  We did steroids and breathing treatments for the RSV, but no antibiotics for the bacterial Pneumonia infection. In her personal opinion, we're dealing with an unresolved case of Pneumonia.  Jackson should have been hospitalized when he had RSV and Pneumonia, with out a doubt.


His ears looked great, no blockage at all.  She said not to worry about the hearing test, Jackson is obviously not deaf.  He's a boy and he's sick.  We need to get him well and then see.

Now what???
Jackson is on a super strong antibiotic for the next 5 days, and he got more steroids yesterday and today.  She changed up his medications a little bit, including a different GERD medication twice a day.  Silent reflux could also be a factor here.  We need to dry up his nose and get his lungs cleared up!

In a perfect world, by this time next week, we'll have a perfectly healthy Jackson! Fingers and toes are doubly crossed hoping that this finally fixes our precious boy!!!

Jackson's revised medication list

My little boob man before the Race

Oh.So.Pitiful.

Riding:)