One year ago

Cooper is taking a rare afternoon nap, so I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the last year.  Today, Cooper is 23 months old.  14 months ago, he had his first seizure and was diagnosed with infantile spasms.  Health wise, the next two months were the worst of his life.  The anti-seizure medicine made him really sleepy, so sleepy that he barely ate.  By the time he was 10 and a half months old, he weighed just under 17 pounds.  He was hospitalized for dehydration and the decision was made to give him a g-tube.  The day after his surgery, Cooper had his last seizure ever (knock on wood) on July 25 of last year.  Just 1 month later, his weight was already up to 19 pounds.  July 25 was a big day for Cooper one year ago.  He's a COMPLETELY different child now.

Pulmonary Issues (so not surprised)

LAST week, Cooper had a pulmonary visit.  A couple of things stuck out that were of concern to his doctor.  One, his pulse ox is in the mid-90's, but he doesn't have labored breathing at all.  So she is concerned that he has pulmonary hypertension (I thought the PDA closure was supposed to fix that!).  So Cooper has an echo scheduled for Thursday.  Two, his sleep study was abnormal.  So we got an x-ray of his neck.  The radiologist said that his adenoids are "prominent," so we're going to see Dr. B (the ENT) and see what he has to say.  Pray he doesn't have to have surgery.  I've heard it's a tough recovery.

In other news, Cooper is finally back to where he was therapy-wise before the two hospitalizations.  Yay!  So he is sitting and standing much better again.  Plus, he's back to eating solids and is slowly working his way back up to a higher volume.  And now, picture time!!


Cooper's new bib.  It covers everything, so it's awesome.  And look, he's smiling even though there is food in his mouth!!

Cooper standing on the Eiler's couch.  He did this for a while and was very proud of himself.

This was at 6:40 one night.  School plus no afternoon nap is tiring!! 

Cooper chewing on a toy with no hands.  Really?!

Cooper sitting up at school.  If anyone has one of those toys and isn't using it anymore, let me know.  Fisher Price discontinued them, so they are REALLY expensive on Amazon.

Haircuts

Two members of my family got haircuts this week: Cooper and Leffe.  This was Cooper's third haircut and man was it needed.  His hair was out of control.  And yes, I know it looked all cute and curly and big, but you come over and brush it.  Then tell me he doesn't need a haircut.  Anyway, here are his before and after pics:

Before (at the hair salon):

After:

Still curly and cute, but way easier to comb through.  Leffe also got her hair cut.  This was Leffe's first haircut and with how hot it has been this summer, it was much needed.  So this is what Leffe normally looks like: a pretty typical golden retriever.

This is what she looks like now:

I'm not sure I would have recognized her if the people at the grooming place hadn't told me that she was mine.  I bet she feels WAY better now, though.  And that is what is important.

In other news, Cooper is back at school and doing great.  Kids recover so quickly.  We see the pulmonary doc tomorrow and Cooper is going to see his PCP.  So I should know more then.  I leave you with his precious image from Sunday morning.  Aunt Frannie gave him this outfit for Christmas and he finally fits in it!!

Hospitalization x 2 (plus Cooper almost died)

LAST Monday (in June), Cooper was supposed to have surgery.  I've already discussed all of that (click here).  The next day, Cooper still had fever, but that afternoon he just didn't seem right.  I checked his pulse ox and it was in the low 80's.  So Brad came home from work (but to be completely honest, I think he was kinda glad to be getting out of the intensive care nursery at UAMS) and we took Coops in to the ER.   They were ready and waiting for us.  His chest x-ray showed he had pneumonia (again or still) so they started antibiotics and admitted him.  By Wednesday morning, they were pretty sure it was viral.  So they stopped the antibiotics and we just waited for Cooper to get better.  By Friday morning, the docs felt comfortable sending him home.  Overall, he had a pretty good weekend.  He had a really high fever Saturday at 3 am, but it was quickly controlled by motrin and he never had a fever again.  Then he threw up Sunday, but he was on oxygen at the time and had a ton of air in his stomach, so we weren't too worried.  Monday he went to school and they said he was a little fussy, but had a pretty good day.  Monday night his cough was awful.  If he was awake, he was coughing.  He didn't go to sleep until almost midnight (and neither did mommy) because of the coughing.  Tuesday morning he woke up coughing again.  So we were trying to figure out if we should take him to the GPC to see Dr. Becton.  Brad talked to the pulmonary attending who had discharged Coops on Friday and she said that a pulse ox in the low 90's was ok since he was post viral.  So we were just going to take him to school.  And that is when the shit hit the fan.

I was stopped at a red light pretty close to my house.  I honestly have no idea what made me turn around and look at Cooper, but when I did I could see he wasn't breathing.  I turned completely and started shaking his legs.  Nothing.  And slowly he started turning gray.  Then purple.  Then blue.  And his body started to curl up on itself.  His head slowly lowered and he was bringing his legs up.  I have never been more scared in my whole life.  I didn't know what to do.  Plus, I was hysterical.  Crying and freaking out.  I called 911 and when the first man I talked to figured out that I was in the car with Cooper, he transfered me to someone else (state vs. local maybe?).  That second man directed me to the Baptist ER, since it was closer.  He literally gave me step by step directions to the emergency room.  Plus managed to calm me down enough that I was coherent by the time I got there.  I was waved straight into triage.  Cooper was breathing at this point, but it was very shallow and Cooper was limp and unresponsive.  As soon as I told the triage nurse what happened, she grabbed Cooper and started yelling at him and shaking him, trying to get him to wake up, while running to a trauma room to get him oxygen.  Brad got there soon after (sacrificing a tire in his speed to get to us) and within the hour Cooper was at Children's in the PICU.  He moved this afternoon to a ward room, since he was greatly improved.  The running theory is that he choked on a mucus plug.  This is not my favorite theory because it is something that could happen again without warning.  And I'm not sure I will be comfortable being alone in a car with Cooper ever again.  Cooper takes a medicine that dries his secretions and they have upped that dosage.  But really, I don't think I could handle that ever happening again.