TOBI and Cipro Update

Lil' Chris is doing GREAT with his new TOBI treatment!! I'm so proud of him!! I can't believe we have gone through a couple of packs already! They come in packs of 4. He is doing GREAT taking his Cipro pill too!! 

So far he hasn't said anything about the taste of the TOBI, and he hasn't said that his tummy hurts from the Cipro, but everyday that I have been with him since he started it, he has not gone #2. I've asked him if he has gone, and he says that he doesn't have to. Hmmmm, I'll have to keep a close eye on that, b/c a lot of CFers have problems with this and end up in the hospital being blocked up and sometimes needs surgery or something. The thick sticky mucus in CFers don't just clog up the lungs, they unfortunately clog us other vital organs too:(

When I called the clinic on Tues, the nurse told us that we could switch Pulmozyme to night time, that way we only have to do TOBI in the morning before school. TOBI takes about 13-15 min. Pulmozyme only takes about 6-8 min, but it's just hard, b/c he can't eat his breakfast while he does these treatments. So we are switching to do Pulmo at night. This will give him more time to eat breakfast before school. 

Also, the nurse said to do his Albuterol puffer before treatments to open up the airways. So, the order of his treatments are Albuterol, Vest, TOBI in the morning and Albuterol, Pulmozyme, Vest, TOBI in the evening. Oh and Flonase nasal spray every am and pm:)

Lil' Chris is coughing and has a stuffy nose right now, but it may be from the meds. I've heard that you can get a "TOBI Cough" when taking it, also a raspy voice. His voice hasn't changed yet, but he is having some productive coughs, which is good! He needs to get it out!

Ayla's cold and cough was starting to go away, but now it's back:( I took her to get her flu shot the other day, and I asked if she could be seen for her cough, but they said they didn't have any openings:( So, we bought some over the counter cough medicine to help her out. So funny...the other day I tried to give her medicine in a pill form and gave her a drink, because that's the norm in this house...well, after she took a sip and looked at me like "what do i do now?" I realized she doesn't know how to swallow pills yet;-) LOL Lil Chris has been swallowing pills since he was 2 and she's almost 4 and can't! I'm not used to that! LOL

Chris and I went to a CF Volunteer Appreciation Dinner the other night and it was so Great seeing all our fellow CF parents that we see each year at this dinner! We actually all got to sit at the same table, except Tina sat at the table next to us, b/c out table was full. We heard from 2 Great doctors and they went over the VERY promising drugs coming out for our kids! It may take 5-10 years for the drug to come, so we just have to try and keep our CFers as healthy as possible until that CURE comes, b/c....it IS COMING!!! I CAN FEEL IT!!!
 
I couldn't have made it this past week without the help and great advice from some awesome friends and my awesome fellow CF parents that I have met thru this blog and facebook!! You guys were there right when I needed you the most!  BIG THANKS to Stacy A., Steph W., Alma, Mary, Samantha, Heather V., Angela, Tina C., Kim, Denna, Kirby, Heather L., Leslie, Marjorie, Tina P., Lisa, Rebecca, Erin, Harriet, Abby, Tabitha, and Allison. I can't thank you all enough!!

As I was doing my devotions the other night before bed, I came across this verse.."Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3 NIV) I have FAITH that God will take away this horrible Pseudomonas bacteria in Lil Chris' lungs so that he can grow old and do GREAT things for God!!! Thank you Lord for having this verse in my devotions that night! I really needed it:) I think a lot of parents with CF kids or any terminal disease should remind themselves of this verse daily!

Thank you all for your prayers, and please keep them coming that the meds work and kicks the Psuedomonas out this first round!!

Please keep Tricia in your prayers too, b/c she finally got listed for a 2nd double lung transplant!! It's always riskier the 2nd time, but we have a God that hears our prayers and answers them!! Check out Nate's blog post...http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/2012/11/listed.html
Thanks,
M