Fever Free!

Isaac has been fever free for well over 24 hours now. Let me back up and tell a bit of this saga. Early last week, Isaac had been doing well on the IV antibiotics and things were looking good. The docs said that once Isaac's IV went bad, then he'd transition to oral antibiotics. I 'think' that happened on Tuesday night. It didn't take long, and then the fevers started to resurface, and began getting worse again.Come Thursday morning, we were met with a rather startling meeting with the docs that spoke of the possibility of the removal of Isaac's hardware (titanium rods in his back). Don't worry, we quickly landed on the fact that Isaac's only current symptom was the fevers and some complaining of his back hurting. The docs came around and agreed (and our main doc was out of town), to leaving things be, going back on IV meds and seeing where the fevers landed. We started the IV antibiotics around lunch on Thursday, and have been fever free for over 24 hours. Yay!

Tomorrow, we hope to meet with our two main doctors that are coordinating care for this current situation, to see how we will proceed to ensure Isaac has the best possible chance at success, so we can avoid any surgical intervention at this point.

We're very happy to have had a very boring couple of days here, because that just means that things are moving in the right direction!

We'll keep ya posted!
Love -

It's the stay that never ends... it goes on and on my friends...

So, Isaac is on day 7 of his stay at CMH. He's still in pretty good spirits, and we try to keep him busy with activities (walks, coloring, painting, etc). And, when all else fails, and episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

What we do know:
- Isaac had an infection in his blood (Staph A) that has been controlled by IV antibiotics, and has now been switched to oral meds.
- Isaac is continuing to run fevers, of which we cannot come up with an obvious cause.

So, those pesky fevers - why are we having to stay? Many people are interested in what's the big deal if we're on antibiotics and are on the perceived right track. Here's the deal:

1. Staph A lives on 30% of the populations' skin. He was at an increased risk for this since he has had an infection previously w/ the same bacteria.

2. We've drawn blood/fluid from around the incision site for his rod lengthening, but those are coming back negative for any infection. This could be because he's already been on antibiotics OR because there really is no infection/abscess there. The main issue now, is that if there is a deep seeded infection,and we are discharged, then there is a possibility that if there is a small abscess there, that it could spread to the hardware, and then Isaac would be up a serious creek. At that point. we'd have to take out the hardware for a significant period of time, and he does not have enough stability to not have the hardware in. So, this is the crux of why it is imperative we find out the cause of the infection and treat it.


Isaac has had cards made by his classmates, pictures sent to him, and visits from friends & family. He wouldn't be in such good spirits w/o your holiday cheer. Please keep them coming!

Love -

Infectious

I think infectious is a great word to describe Isaac. He had an infectious laugh,  smile,  love, and the list goes on and on.

I know, I know. Everyone wants to know how Isaac is doing.  Everyone wants him to be well.  Trust me,  we are first in line on that train. However, we are still at a point that we don't know what caused the infection, as all cultures are coming back with no growth. The Infectious Disease docs were highly suspicious that it came from his most recent some surgery,  but all results from that area coming back as negative. His kidneys & bladder are also negative.

We also know that all blood cultures he had had since the initial ones have stayed negative as well.  At issue is that he is still spiking fevers every so often.  We will be here for another couple of days to ensure we have the fever truly under control.

He is in pretty good spirits around here.  Hopefully he can keep that up for another day or two & we can be on our way!