Hopeful - Children's Mercy Visit

Today we finally begin the process of being referred to a pulmonologist for our son Braxton. Our son will visit Children's Mercy where we are very hopeful that they will be able to give us a course of treatment and a plan of action for our young son and his breathing difficulties and respiratory issues he's had.

As I look back on the past year and a half, I can't help but think of the hundreds of breathing treatments, the countless trips to the doctors office or urgent care center, the endless trips to Dillon's pharmacy, the several humidifiers we've gone through, and the many sleepless nights for our son. Braxton's doctor was hoping that he would outgrow all of this, but each time it's only gotten worse. Our last bout came during the Christmas break. After visiting the doctor's office three mornings in a row, and having to up his breathing treatments to every 2-4 hours, and barely making it through the nights without a trip to the hospital, the referral came.

We do not know what today will hold. But we do know that God never gives us more than we can bear. We have cast our cares upon the Lord and know that through it all we will be loved and nurtured by our loving Father. We are thankful for the talents and gifts that God has given the medical doctor's at Children's Mercy and pray that today we will get some much needed answers. We want to thank our family and friends for their love, support, and prayers they have shown our family. We truly are blessed to have each of you in our lives.

Let it snow, let it snow, BUT not inside

So this week I was very lucky to get dismissed early from school one day, followed by a full snow day the next! Not only that, but I failed to mention we had a snow day the prior week as well. How exciting considering we've yet to have a full week of school since Christmas break! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but definitely won't pass up any opportunity to spend extra time with my son! So this day and a half was perfect for fun mother and son time!

However, I think the highlight of our snow day was when I was getting dinner ready! Of course, since it was snowing and cold, we had to have chili and cinnamon rolls - definitely a staple for cold, wintry weather. As I had the chili on the stove and cinnamon rolls in the over, I noticed it had been very quite for quite some time. When you have a toddler in the house you know this can mean only one thing - TROUBLE!!! I quickly ran to Braxton's room to find him and the floor covered in baby powder! He had the bottle upside down and was just shaking it like crazy! Hence the day Braxton made it snow inside! Needless to say he got to help clean up the snow and get a bath immediately - dinner of course could wait!!! I'd love to say I got mad and said, "NO, Braxton," but honestly all I could do was laugh and take a picture of the mess!!! :-)

Braxton's Asthma Attacks

As many of you know, for the past year we have struggled with Braxton and his breathing due to his asthma. This past week, he's had a setback that almost put him back into the hospital and still could if he has another nighttime setback. For those of you that remember, it was last February that he was hospitalized for 4 days with a diagnosis of RSV at the time. The past 2 nights we have been dealing with these same breathing issues that put Braxton in the hospital last year.

For those of you that don't know, we put Braxton on Singular about 3 months ago and have not had to give him a breathing treatment since then, that is until this past week. With him starting Singular we were amazed at the results it immediately gave our son Braxton and the fact that we were no longer battling the breathing treatments that we have done so for the past year.

However, during the past week, his coughing during the day and night had become more prevalent and it became obvious that we had to do something because of his coughing fits, labored breathing, and low oxygen levels. In the past 2 days we've visited the doctor twice, averaged about 1.5 hours of sleep per night and had a chest x-ray done. The doctors are calling Braxton's current condition as severe asthma attacks due to a viral infection and we are treating with oral steroids, breathing treatments every 2 hours, and other prescribed methods. This morning our doctor sent us to get chest xrays. We just got a call that his chest xrays are good and there is no sign of pneumonia, thank goodness. As long as we can keep his breathing rate stable and oxygen levels normal, we will be at our home tonight.

I am asking for your prayers, love, and support for my family as we work through these issues to get to the "root" of his breathing and asthma problems. As a mother, you feel so helpless when you can't "fix" what is hurting on your child and they can't tell you exactly what it is that is hurting or that they are feeling. I ask that you pray for strength for us all during this time as we try and overcome these issues. We love you all!