Not Sure If She Misses Me

Babies are so hard to read sometimes....

Thankful Thursday: Skills & Support

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for new skills. Mckenna has mastered the art of rolling front to back and I love it. She is always so proud after rolling and it cracks me up! I'm thankful for the new entertainment for both of us.

I'm thankful for a proactive hubby. I am so blessed that Ronnie takes such great care of himself and does so many treatments, exercises, and goes in for tune-ups willingly. I know it may get to be a lot sometimes but I know he goes in for us and for that I am thankful.

I'm thankful for iPhones. Yes, I did just say that. We got new phones last week and they have FaceTime. I LOVE being able to webcam anywhere with Internet!   Way cool!
Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for the hospital. I'm thankful that coming to the hospital and getting good care is even an option. There are many places in the world where people suffer because of inadequate or non-existent healthcare. So happy to live in a place that it's an option to be hospitalized.

I'm thankful for a supportive wife. This is my first hospital stay as a daddy and there's no doubt that this will be the toughest one yet for Mandi. She has to be a "single mom" when I'm in here and while there's no doubt in my mind that she'll do the best ever, it's still not something that I like putting her through. She's never wavered in her support of me being in the Hole as she feels that I need to be in here as much as I do.

I'm thankful for technology. Even though we're separated by 100 miles, it can still feel like we're next to each other at times. Between iChat, Facetime and Skype Mandi and Mckenna never feel too far away.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Question by Reader: MRSA

Got this question a few weeks back and I figured that many of you could relate:

Question: My son is 17 months old and swabbed for mrsa at his 15 month visit. We did 6 weeks of bacterum, 2 wks of rifampin, a body wash and nasal cream and his mrsa did not go away. We are especially clean and practice great handwashing. I'm blessed to be a stay at home mother so I have the extra time to be extra clean. I know some things are obviously out of my hands though. Anyway, he hasn't had ANY lung issues in life. I'm very nervous about the mrsa and the nurses and doctors just kind of say they don't know if it is bad or not and not to worry because he's healthy right now. If you know any solid information on mrsa and the fact that he's never had any symptoms but obviously carries it, please let me know. You don't have to sugar coat or hold anything back. I just am not sure what lies ahead, but I suppose we never are sure. I will appreciate any info or advice you have. Also, the doctors said they will not try to get rid of the mrsa again. They say they give it one good shot and then leave it alone. Do you think this is a good idea or should I push for something else?

So what do I know about MRSA? I've had it since about 2004. My lung function is just as high now as it was then. I have had increased hospitalizations, but that could be a result of age and a variety of other factors. I must also note that my hospital stays have shortened since recommitting to treatments and exercise - 3/4 treatments a day plus 1 hour of exercise.

Most doctors in the US only aggressively treat MRSA if symptoms are present. I say US doctors as doctors in Europe are more concerned with MRSA then they are pseudomonas. Our doctors here on the other had aggressively treat pseudo and not MRSA. I'm guessing the difference has to do with the interpretation of different studies.

Anyway, my doctors took the same approach. They aggressively treated it at first, but as it continued to show up, they backed off. My recommendation would be to aggressively treat it for a couple more rounds and see what happens. Chances are that it is here to stay, but you never know. I think regret will always come with not treating something rather then treating it and it still being there. Does that make sense?

Like I said however, what's most important is how he is feeling. Now, at 17 months old, that may be a bit tough to tell, but be sure to pay attention to his symptoms. 

I'm a bit surprised that they don't have you doing any nebs. If anything, it could get him used to what is to come. CPT may be more effective if it is preceded by some albuterol to open him up. With that said however, it may not be needed.

SO HAPPY to hear that thus far there doesn't seem to be much lung involvement! 

It sounds to me like you are doing a fantastic job with your son's care. Don't stress out about these various bugs. Some will happen, some will not. It is not a reflection on how "clean" you guys are or whether or not you wash your hands 100 times a day.

Cha..Cha..Cha...Changes

Ronnie's going in for a tune-up soon, and man, I'm scared. I'm not going to sugar coat it at all. I'm really nervous about it. Wow, nothing like just coming out with it..boom...my insecurities right in your face on this lovely Monday morning. Ha!

We have always been very vocal about the fact that we kind of look forward to hospital stays in the Sharpe household. They have always been a time when we can take a hiatus from the normal routine; spend time "camping" together; reconnect; etc. But this hospital stay with be the first of the NEW hospital stays - now that Mckenna is here. We don't quite know how it will look exactly, but being the planner I am, I've sure tried to predict what it'll be like and how it will all work. Mckenna and I will likely split our time between home and visiting Ronnie, but it will just be during the day, and at night I'll be staying at home or at Ronnie's parent's house. We don't know what nights we'll spend where quite yet, but we do know it wouldn't be in the hospital, as the hospital isn't quite the ideal place for a 3 month old to sleep. And I may be the only person on earth to say this, but I'm sad that I don't get to spend the nights there anymore. I loved sleeping on my little cot, tucked in the corner. I loved calling out, "goodnight. I love you," before bed and waking up to see my love zonked out. But I'm looking at the bright side, Mckenna's sweet face is a close second to wake up to :)

Not only will nights be different. But instead of unplugging a bit during hospital stays, now I'll be increasing my "work load." Becoming a single momma for several days a week, and 7 nights a week, on top of having to work will be very interesting, to say the least. I know I will figure it out, but it will be quite the adjustment to figure out how to navigate being the sole caregiver while working. I know I can manage, but it'll take a little to get the hang of. Luckily my workplace is AWESOME and truly practice what they preach when they say family first. So when I'm down with Ronnie (my office is down there), I can bring Mckenna to work with me, which will be a huge blessing. The real challenge will be sneaking work in during naps, and while she's playing independently. Everything besides Mckenna and work will fall by the way-side I'm afraid.

The nice thing is some of my favorite hospital traditions can still happen. We can still do Dunkin' on the mornings I'm there. We can still get in long, fun walks. We can't still snuggle in his tiny bed - and even better, we'll have a third there with us! We can still walk down and get freshly baked cookies from the cafeteria. We can still listen to John Jay and Rich radio show podcasts. We can still do tons of my favorite things. So I'm trying to focus on that, when I start to get bummed and scared about what this hospital stay will bring.

Anywhoo, there you have it. I'm scared, but a tiny bit excited to see just what I can do on my own (gulp - I'm not quite supermom yet). I think the fact that this post is a bit all over the place shows the chaos that is my brain trying to noodle through how it'll all work. Leave some suggestions if you've got 'em!