Monday, December 12, 2005

Long time no Post

Kieran has been sick, yet again. he's had a double ear infection for about 6 weeks now. His ears looked clear when Mark and I went on vacation and almost as soon as we came back it was back again. We knew that he was allergic to penicillin, but now it looks like he's also allergic to cephalosporin type antibitoics as well. No dramatic visits to the ER this time, just a rash that spread all over his tummy and back the 2nd time he took it. That left us with 2 types of antibiotics - Zithromax (once a day for 5 days and doesn't taste too bad) or Bactrim (twice a day for 10 days and very yucky tasting), of course we went for the Zithromax. Everything seemed to be ok, then 6 days later he had a temperature of 103 and back to the doctors we went. The infection was still there but now it was even worse, so time for the real yucky medicine. It really is yucky, I got a little bit on my finger and it leaves a really bitter aftertaste, it's also really really grainy no matter how long you shake it for. I think the first 2 attempts ended up down his chin, but we've got a technique now where we squirt it into the side of his cheek, hold his mouth close and blow quickly on his face which startles him into swallowing, follwed by a cup of milk to take the taste away. We're half way through now so I just hope it works. We've got an appointment with an ENT to see about getting tubes in his ears but that's not 'till early January.

At his last doctors visit he was also wheezing pretty badly (again) and his doctor said he was actually pretty sick (you couldn't really tell as he was cruising round the room talking away). He's now on an anti infamatory called Singulair for the rest of the winter. It's granuals that are apparently tasteless and just need to be sprinkled on his food, we pick them up today so I'll let you know how that goes. His wheezing meant more nebulizer treatments, twice a day with Pulmicort and Xopenex every 4 hours (even during the night when he's at his worst) . No one's actually diagnosed him with asthma yet, but everything is pointing that way.

He's hardly eaten for days (one of the side affects fo the Bactrim), his sleep is atrocious (possible side affect of the Xopenex/Pulmicort). last night he was awake about every 2 hours, got up for the day at just before 5am and went down for a nap at 8am. I'm so tired that I feel like a zombie.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Elainah's ENT appointment isn't until January as well. So sorry to hear the little guy is so sick.

We also use Xopenex four to six times a day and pulmocort twice a day. There is always a six bottle of Orapred in the refrigerator for when things get really bad.

I know first-hand how difficult it can be to funtion without sleep.

Elainah and I send hugs and wishes that you will get some much needed rest and that Kieran feels better.

Naomi said...

Thanks Rebecca!

BStrong said...

Penicillin seems to be a common allergy; I also have that alergy. Sounds like things are a little crazy for you, just take some comfort in the fact that you're not alone:)

I hope for your sanity that Kieran gets better. Feeling like a Zombie is pretty bad, always having that craving for brains.

Cheers,
B

Naomi said...

B - Brains, must eat brains, LOL - Thanks made me laugh

Belovedlife said...

Welcome back! Long time no hear!
I know the feeling of no sleep all to well, what is it wth our kids, that they cant seem to sleep longer then a couple of hours. Are they that afraid they'll miss something?!
Hope the kids feel better, ENT should be able to help you out by popping some tubes in, amazing how well they work.

Kelly said...

Jenelle is allergic to Keflex and it is always the first antibiotic they want to prescribe! UGH, I feel your pain! Bactroban has been good for her, and it has a long shelf life!

Glad to hear he's on the mend!

Anonymous said...

My name is Wesley Brown and i would like to show you my personal experience with Zithromax.

I am 45 years old. Have been on Zithromax for 2 days now. I took this drug (generic azithro 500 mg bid) to get rid of an 2+ week old sinus infection that did not clear with decongestants and antihistamines. The drug made a substantial difference within 2 days. I'm a physician and needed to return to work, and the tiredness was just excessive, so I stopped the drug after 48-72 hours. The infection did not return. I would take this drug again if I needed to kill off an infection. I don't expect to feel good all the time. If a drug is making me healthy in a particular way, it's up to me to weigh that benefit against the cost of side effects.

I have experienced some of these side effects -
Fatigue. I just didn't want to move or get out of bed while on the drug; it was a bit hard to figure out that this was an effect of the medication rather than the sinusitis. Otherwise I was fine.

I hope this information will be useful to others,
Wesley Brown