Hippo Therapy Here We Come!

Ben had his consult visit for Hippo Therapy this morning (no, he won't be ridding a Hippo, it is therapeutic horseback riding to help with balance and hips). We were lucky enough to get a spot in the extremely sought after program that starts this spring. Many of our CHARGE friends have participated in Hippo Therapy and have had wonderful things to say about it.

This morning we went over all the paperwork, learned about the program, got a tour of the facility and met the pony Ben will be riding. I'm very excited for Ben to start his therapy and I'm really hoping he takes to his new four legged friend Dixie. He freaked out when he got close to her eating some snacks and wanted to be taken away. Sitting on the saddle will also be challenging for him because that is quite a stretch for his tight legs, but really good for him if he can tolerate it. I'm going to get trained to be a volunteer so I can walk next to the horse and therapist when Ben is riding since he will need me for suctioning of the trach (they don't want people walking with the horses unless they have gone through training - can't say I blame them). Until the sessions start, we will be showing him lots of pictures of horses! Hopefully that will get him more familiar when it comes time to ride.

While we waited in the lobby, we tried Ben on one of the wood horses with saddles.

Ben preferred to ride his car and just look at the saddles.

This is the room where they get the riders ready.

Can't ride a horse without a helmet...

Or one of these, whatever they are...

Here are the stables - Ben's horse was outside in a coat (it was COLD).

The name tag marking Dixie's stall.

And here she IS! Hi Dixie!

The indoor ring for bad weather days...

And the outdoor ring.

Everyone is better and things are good

Ben made a full recovery over his pneumonia, flu and ear infection last week. Thank you to all our blog readers for all your words of encouragement! Ben went to school on Tuesday and by Thursday he was back in the swing of things at school. I too started feeling better last week. Hopefully we got our share of illnesses over with once and for all! I am just very anxious for some warm weather so we can take Ben for walks again. He loves them and it really breaks up his day (especially the non-school days). Every year by this time, I have major spring fever!

Over the Hump

I think Ben is over the hump of his illnesses. For the first time in a few weeks, he didn't require any Oxygen last night!! I too am feeling so much better today. What a relief and now we can enjoy our weekend. It is amazing how much better a parent feels when their child feels better. I can take a big old deep breath with ease now.

Viral Influenza

Ben's preliminary lab results came back and it showed he has viral influenza in addition to the pneumonia and ear infection. Since the root of his sickness is viral, the antibiotics won't help anything but the ear infection. I guess you can't tell from the xray whether it is viral or bacterial so they extended the antibiotics just in case it was bacterial. We are just going to have to let it run its course. I'm at least relieved to have a reason why Ben wasn't improving that much. The treatment should be the same as before, but I will get a call if we're to do anything different. And based on the fact that I was feverish Monday/Tuesday, they think I might have the same thing... oh no. If I feel it traveling into my lungs, I will be heading to the doctor ASAP.
I just can't get over how many illnesses Ben has at once. It's like he hit the trifecta of sickness! And our prize was a broken down car! LOL.

Feeling a tiny bit better

Ben is feeling a tiny bit better, but still struggling to battle the pneumonia. He is still requiring a small amount of Oxygen when sleeping and round the clock Tylenol and nebulizer treatments. I was hoping he would be doing much better than this after the antibiotics. The first hour or so after he wakes up for the day/from a nap is the absolute worst for him.

I'm still sick with a bad cold and trying to avoid Ben. Between Mike, my mom and the nurses... I've been fortunate enough to limit my exposure. Last night, Mike stopped at the drug store on the way home from work to pick up a refill for Ben. When getting back into his car, it wouldn't start. It wouldn't do anything. Thank goodness my mom was here so I could run out and we could try and jump his car. It wouldn't jump either. It got towed to the dealership and we are awaiting the verdict. Not a good time to be down to one car... I don't know how other families do it.

Pneumonia

Ben's chest Xray came back and showed that he has a viral pneumonia. With the antibiotics he will start later today, hopefully he will be feeling better in 24 hours. Poor little guy :(

Took A Turn For The Worst

Ben's road to recovery took a turn for the worst. He seemed to be recovering so well, but then Saturday night he had a really, really rough night. Sunday he continued to worsen as the day progressed and I was starting to worry he might have RSV or pneumonia. His respirations were very labored and fast, he was super tight in his chest and coughing was starting to turn into gasping for air episodes. He needed oxygen last night and we gave nebulizer treatments every four hours. Ben's Pediatrician's office (who is amazing and specializes in Special Need kids) not only agreed to see him first thing this morning even though they didn't have office hours until 1:00 p.m. today, they were also willing to go to the Children's Outpatient facility by us so we didn't have to take him downtown. We are so fortunate to have them on our team.

Ben, dad and our day nurse are still at Children's (I came down with a nasty cold yesterday and didn't want to expose Ben to anything else and I also feel pretty crummy... I'm climbing the walls not being at the doctor's with Ben.)

As I'm writing this, I just got a call from our Dr's Nurse Practitioner (NP). She said Ben has an ear infection (no big surprise since when he vomits it comes out his ears too). They are also getting a chest Xray to see if he has any pneumonia and sending his trach secretions to the lab to see if he has RSV. We should hear results of the Xray later today and the lab test will have preliminary results in 48 hours. They are starting him on oral antibiotics. I'm hoping we are now over the worst and Ben starts feeling better soon.

On the mend!

Ben is feeling so much better this morning. He had a good night's rest and woke up a whole new kid. Thank you to everyone for all your kind words and prayers.

Really Sick and Needing Oxygen

Ben woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning feeling worse than yesterday. His sats were scary low and he was needing Oxygen (Ben has only required Oxygen one other time from being sick). After some O's and lots of cuddle time with Mommy, he started doing better again and we have been weaning the Oxygen down since. I have a call in to the doc to just let them know what is going on. I really don't want to take him in since I have everything at home I need and fear him catching something else on top of what he has in the hospital.

Sick? We haven't gone anywhere?!

Ben woke up this morning fussy, vomiting, really hot, pale and with a high heart rate. I kept him home from school today and luckily had one of his regular nurses here to help me take care of him (vomiting, the trach and suctioning makes for a challenge with only one person when he wants held all the time). I don't know how he could be sick, we haven't really taken him anywhere since this snow storm hit last Tuesday. But regardless, I hope he feels better soon. Seems like he has been sick so much this winter. He is sleeping right now and I am taking advantage of the break before the nurse leaves at 2:30.

This picture shows how sick my lil guy is... Ben would never agree to have a cold washcloth across his forehead unless he felt miserable. His little chin keeps on trembling every so often too and it breaks my heart.