Infection and stuff

Last Friday, Josh had casts on his feet removed again, and that's when we first noticed last that he seemed really sleepy, and pretty much stayed that way for three days. To backtrack a little, I had taken Josh to his GP on the Thursday for some repeat prescriptions, and also to get a referral for a counsellor or something for myself. (I occasionally have flashbacks to the day of Josh's accident, and I'm not quite sure what to do with what I see or hear in my head. Other times, I can just cry at a memory, or sometimes still when trying to sing a song or something to Josh. So now I have an appointment to see a Clinical Phsycologist in a few weeks. I, or rather we, have lots more going on than learning a new life with Josh, and it will be good to offload on to someone without a biased opinion). The GP didn't actually check Josh over, but that's not to say he would of seen any signs of an imminent infection anyhow.

Sunday and Monday his temperature was in the high 38's, and after a visit from his OT (to modify his hand splints with some extra padding) I took Josh back to the GP. He diagnosed a throat infection, and prescribed some antibiotics, and said that Josh should be fine within 24 hours. His mouth was really dry, the papillae (taste buds on his tongue) were more prominent, and his breath was really bad...

Tuesday, as I started brushing Joshy's teeth and tongue, I noticed blood, so I stopped brushing. Then a little later, as I was suctioning Josh, I again noticed blood. And there was lots of it either through his nose or his mouth. At first I thought it was from a cold sore or something the catheter had knocked the head off, but there was too much. Somehow we could tell though that it wasn't coming from his chest or anything he coughed up. John called the Doctor in the afternoon, who didn't seem too concerned and said he'd look at it when I bought Josh in the next day (for his flu shot). It was pretty freaky though!

By Wednesday, Josh did seem a little better; at least his temperature had returned to normal, and his breath wasn't as bad (and of course he'd stopped bleeding), but he was still very sleepy. We had the therapist from the RIDBC come by again, but Josh wasn't visually responsive, so she tried some tactile things instead (like running his fingers over textures in a book, or placing both hands over a vibrating massager). Then later, when we went to to the GP's, he thought that the bleeding had been because Josh had bitten his tongue, but I'm not convinced of that. I think it was more because his infection was so bad, and his throat and tongue were so infected that the yankeur and suctioning caused them to bleed.

The GP declared him well enough to receive the first of two flu injections (next one in 4 weeks), so that was administered. Paris came along with us as well, because I had picked her up from school after receiving a call saying she was in their "sick bay". She wasn't given antibiotics, but a list of other things to do to assist her convalescence, like time off school, rest, and Vick's. Not good timing for her though because Thursday and Friday were meant to be full days of rehearsing for the school musical both she and Melie are in (which starts next week). She went along to school on Thursday anyway, and I really expected a call to ask me to pick her up, but I didn't get one, and by Friday, she was fine. Whew!

Josh had more casting today, and also an appointment with the Pediatrician (which I had forgotten about; I lost some appointments somehow when I synced my iPhone to the calendar (this appointment included obviously) and wasn't reminded of it, so I didn't attend). I heard she was surprised that Josh hadn't been readmitted to hospital! Yay Joey!

Today is the first day in since last Friday (a week!) where Josh has been truly awake and kept his eyes open for most of the day! It was so good to see his eyes!

Still took it relatively easy though - light exercises and standing frame once.

Yesterday I also met up with my dad to talk to him about the other stuff going on right now, and which I can now share with those of you who dont already know. John and I are no longer together, and I am in the process of moving out. To those who know me, this is not a new thing, since we officially separated last year. We had been kind of working things out, but unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Joshys accident was icing on the cake. One person I know of will think Im sharing this to gain sympathy, but it isnt like that at all. There are many details I cant and wont share, and this isnt the place to do it anyhow. And aside from that, if you dont have anything ncie to say, dont say anything at all, right?