A sigh of relief

Bryce met with the last of his new specialists today, and I'm pleased to say that in spite of the inauspicious date, we ended the week on a high note. His pediatric pulmonologist (lungs) said that he is doing fantastic, and mostly confirmed what we already knew. Bryce does have Chronic Lung Disease, a scarring of the lung tissue which is practically inevitable in extremely premature babies that need long-term ventilation. However, he's been off oxygen for more than two months, he hasn't had any apnea spells since he left the hospital, and the doc said that his lungs sound great. His CLD is the biggest factor in our fear of respiratory infection, and the pulmonologist advised us to continue to be extremely careful through the end of April (*sigh*), but he's optimistic that Bryce will be one of the kids who'll outgrow this condition. The doctor also said that he no longer needs three of his medications, including the dreaded salts that precipitate most of his choking episodes, so by early next week he'll only be taking the pink stuff all kids love: amoxicillin.

The only bittersweet news of the day is that they're going to take away our security blanket! Despite the inconvenience, Christie and I find a great deal of comfort in knowing that Bryce's apnea monitor will emit a shriek that would wake the dead if he should stop breathing in the wee hours of the night. However, he hasn't had any alarms in three weeks, and none of his alarms to date have been serious, so the pulmonologist said it's time to give it back. He wanted to take it today, but one look at Christie's panic-stricken expression prompted him to give us an additional two weeks to "get used to the idea."

This mildly upsetting new development was swept from our minds shortly thereafter when the pediatrician called with some eagerly anticipated results. Bryce's head ultrasound, which was taken yesterday morning, was completely clean: no brain swelling, no extra fluid on the brain, and no enlarged ventricles! All said, it was a fantastic Friday the 13th for our mighty mite. Print this post