Movin right along............

Jophie continues to show improvement on the Amikacin. He did spike a temp Friday and was a bit agitated. Today he's slept comfortably off and on but then this evening he was agitated again. He does have some really nasty looking sores/blisters on his gums most likely from the antibiotic. That could be the culprit or he may just need to go to the bathroom. For now I've started him on his Chlorhexidine Gluconate which is an oral rinse used specifically for mouth sores. He can't swishy it like your suppose to so I just brush it on with Q-tips. I'm hoping this will help some. In the mean time I'll just watch him to see if I can pin down whats causing the agitation.

His antibiotic will continue through Monday. This will be a total of 21 days on the Amikacin via his PICC line. Sherrie(His pediatrician) wants to keep the PICC line in place for about a week beyond his last dose to see how he does without any antibiotics. IF he does well and shows no signs of the pseudomonas being active then we will go have his line pulled. IF he does poorly then we'll just have to run more antibiotics. I'm praying so hard that he shows us his old normal self minus all those horrible symptoms we've been seeing for so long!

I sat down today and was thinking about how long this latest illness has lasted. I was shocked when I realized that this has been going on since LAST October. Thats 10 months! I'm so looking forward to seeing a happy/healthier Jophie as I'm CERTAIN he will be just as pleased to feel better!

Tammy(A dear family friend who happens to also be Jophies nurse) and I changed Jophies line dressing on Thursday. It's amazing how much better it looks each time we change it especially when compared to that first and even second picture. Looks great doesn't it? I'm very pleased with the way its healed.

Truth be told I'd much rather keep his line throughout the winter months. I know that sounds absolutely absurd but, he does so well with IV meds and its so convienent for blood draws not to mention how hard it is to just access him for any type of line. I do however realize the dangers of infection and fully understand that it would be best to remove the line as soon as possible especially with Jophies immune system being like it is.

But...If it were a safer option I'd still like to keep it! :0)

Specific prayer requests:

1. The Pseudomonas will be knocked down to an inactive state.
2. His PICC line will continue to be free of infection.
3. His temperature will go back to normal and stop spiking.
4. Jophie can get back or close to his old baseline.
5. That we can manage his pain and keep him happy.

Now I must go prepare Jophies tube feeding/regular meds AND also prepare his nightly dose of IV meds!

Thank you for your continued prayers. We appreciate and covet them so much!

Leaving you with this little mug!....