Family Adventures

Fun Picture

Ria — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Ethan is so excited to have Jayden home he keeps trying to pick him up to sit with him. The funny thing is, Ethan only weighs 25 pounds and Jayden is more than 14, so he can't really pick him up.

Some Good News

Ria — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:37:00 +0000

I just spoke with the doctor and the lab found two bacteria in Jayden's lungs is two of the most common bacteria around. That is great news because if they found weird ones, we would be very worried. They are going to start him on a course of antibiotics along with his 5 other medicines and hopefully the combination will clear up his infections and keep him healthy.

We will repeat the sweat test in a month or so, but hopefully he's on the side of kids who just have really bad asthma and acid reflux and just was having trouble fighting off everything at once.

Thanks again for your prayers. Please keep praying we can make it safely to summer.

We're Back Home

Ria — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:20:00 +0000

We've made it back home on our 6th day back in the hospital. We think we're getting more answers now, which is helpful. They did find increased white blood cells in his lungs, which signal an infection. Now we have to figure out what caused it and how we can treat it. We are still awaiting the full pathology report.

Here is a cute picture of him in the hospital. He spends a lot of time flirting with the nurses, but is sure happy to be home. Now we are hoping to get a bit of rest and spring cleaning in.

Plan Of Action

Ria — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:25:00 +0000

So I spoke with his pulmonologist this afternoon. She said a lot of the irritation may be aggravated by the acid reflux, so we are getting a new acid reflux medicine. They are attempting to grow cultures in the lab to figure out what was in his lungs and we should know that by Friday or Monday. If that shows bacteria, they will give him the appropriate antibiotic.

They are going to wait a few weeks for another sweat test in hopes he gets bigger and healthier.

Finally, if he has a good night, we can go home tomorrow! Yeah:). Hopefully we can keep him out of the hospital for awhile:).

Done With The OR

Ria — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:39:00 +0000

Jayden had his bronchoscopy and the flexible tube down his nose. They decided not to do the larynxoscopy because his larynx looked normal and he had a lot of inflammation they want to minimize causing extra inflammation.

He does have some trancheomalacia and a lot of bronchialmalacia, which pretty much means the cartilage in his trachea and bronchial tubes is very soft and floppy and collapses easily with inflammation.

His left lung had some thick mucus and was inflamed, but is right lung had a lot of mucus and was very inflamed. She tried to suction some of it out, but his right lung kept collapsing in on it. They sent samples to the lab to be tested, which may or may not tell us much.

I asked her about the cystic fibrosis and she just said we'll wait to see what the pathology reports say. They may tell us something or may not, they are not all conclusive. He will still do the sweat test when we can.

For now he is sleeping off the anesthesia and they are going to continue giving him steroids to help reduce the inflammation.

He is also going to do a course of antibiotics in case there is bacteria growing in his lungs.

We'll update everyone when we know more.

Halfway Through

Ria — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:18:00 +0000

Jayden's Upper Gi came back completely normal today, which is fabulous. It means he does not have anything from the outside pushing on his airways (any growths or tumors). We tried to do the sweat test, but the think he was too dehydrated from not eating before the upper GI because he didn't have enough sweat to test. The doctors are thinking more and more that cystic fibrosis is not the cause of his medical issues, but still want him tested.

We just entered the period of his no eating for the procedures later today. He is on his IV fluids, but it's difficult for babies to understand why they can't eat when they are hungry. He will not be a happy baby come morning, but pray they can get him in the OR early. Also pray for the anesthesiologist and all the doctors who will be looking at his airways. He will have three procedures done and then they may take some biopsies as well to test, especially if they see any abnormalities.

I will update more as more test results come in.

Preparing For Testing

Ria — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:40:00 +0000

Not much to report. We are just waiting for all the testing to begin. Jayden is doing well and his oxygen levels are doing well.

Hopefully we will start to get some answers soon. We will be in until at least Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning and if they find some serious stuff, it could be longer, but we will just see. His CT scan is also scheduled for Tuesday. Not too shabby, we could get them all done in one shot:).

Love,
ria

Saturday Fun

Ria — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Jayden is doing ok. He had a better night and is getting to eat again. He will be here until at least mid day Tuesday because they have him scheduled in the OR for a bronchoscopy with the ENT, whom he saw last night, and the pulminologist on Tuesday for a bit. He still has an upper GI on Monday, but now as an inpatient and he's doing the sweat test here as well.

Nothing else fun. He's just recovering from whatever he got this time and we're setting up shop here.

Bonus: This hospital offers free meals for nursing moms. I guess they figure if they aren't feeding the patient, might as well feed the one who is feeding the patient:).

New Lozano Family Picture

Ria — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:04:00 +0000

Well, we all got together after Becky's wedding last weekend and took a new family picture. Amazingly, we got with all the kids looking at the camera and all the adults smiling. Enjoy:)

We're Back ... In The Hospital

Ria — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:00:00 +0000

So Jayden got admitted into St. Christopher's this morning. He was having trouble breathing, not getting mucus up, an increased heart rate and respiratory rate, etc. etc.

He is going to be here until at least Tuesday morning so they can stabilize him and then run the tests they need to run. He was temporarily taken off feedings, but one of the medicines they gave him here is helping a lot, so he got to start nursing again this afternoon.

At least we can get all these "appointments" out of here quickly:). Hopefully this will be the last time for a long time.

As always, prayers are appreciated.

We're at a new hospital and Internet access is limited so cell is better to reach me on.

Love,
ria

Happy Easter!

Ria — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:18:00 +0000

We were so glad to have Jayden home from the hospital and breathing alright again. Later in the day, Jayden and I took off for our trip back to the Lou. Jim and Ethan will join us later this week.

Yeah - A Trip

Ria — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:10:00 +0000

So Jayden has been cleared to head to St. Louis as long as his condition is the same as it is now or better, so it looks like we'll be able to come. We'll just have to be extra careful so he doesn't contract anything else.

Jayden's Heading Home

Ria — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:06:00 +0000

The doctors just cleared Jayden for going home from the hospital. We still don't know about our trip, but at least he is going home for Easter:). Thanks for all the prayers and love. We will keep everyone updated.

Another Night....

Ria — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:45:00 +0000

Well, he had to go back on oxygen for awhile and so we're staying the night. He's back off it again, so hopefully he has a good night and we can head home tomorrow. Only time will tell. Not much else news. His CF test is scheduled for a couple weeks from now, but they will have the results 24 hours after it is performed, which is good. Until then, we hope to get a bit more rest.

No More Oxygen!

Ria — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:46:00 +0000

So Jayden decided he didn't want his oxygen anymore and took it out early this morning. The nurses laughed and let him go, and this time his oxygen levels didn't go down too much, which is a great sign. The doctor said if he can keep this up throughout the day, we may get to go home.

His doctor said he definitely is asthmatic (really, you think;)?? They are trying to get him in for the sweat test this morning to test for cystic fibrosis, but if he can't get in this morning and he gets released, we will come back for that as an outpatient.

The prayers are great and he has been getting a lot of rest, especially since Ethan can't climb into his crib or poke him every minute of the day.

Some News

Ria — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:56:00 +0000

So we have some good"ish" news. Jayden did test positive for a virus and hopefully that explains everything. We are hoping that means he's just been a somewhat unlucky little boy who hasn't had enough time to really build up his immune system and not signaling some more serious possibilites.

They are still looking at a few other things and haven't tested him for cystic fibrosis yet, which they will be doing in the next day or so. We are praying that comes back negative, but it is a possibility and we need to check into it. So at least we will know after he is tested.

Keep the prayers coming. They said if they can get him off of oxygen, he may be able to leave tomorrow, so we'll see.

Update on Jayden

Ria — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:19:00 +0000

Well, he's doing ok, but they had to put him on oxygen overnight to stabilize him more. His oxygen levels were getting too low as he slept. We'll see how he does with/without it today. Today they are looking at many underlying causes for his never-ending breathing issues and we'll see what all the "experts" can come up with. In the meantime, it's just a lot fo waiting. Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming.

Back For Another Round

Ria — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:15:00 +0000

I will update the blog when we get info.... As always, prayers are greatly appreciated.

Jayden is in the hospital again. Pleas say prayers they can help him and get to the bottom of his breathing problems. He is having chest xrays and a lot of PT, deep suctioning, etc. and will be staying for at least tonight. In his current state, he is not able to fly and will not be able to travel. They said they think with some effective treatments, that should change, but we just have to see.

We will have more updates later...hopefully this is a short stay:)

Love,
ria

Trouble Times Two

Ria — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:06:00 +0000

Jim's aunt gave the boys these matching outfits and so we decided we need some cute pictures with them.

That smile looks like Ethan's up to something....

Sometimes Ethan tackles Jayden and you can tell Jayden's just in for the ride and not sure what to do.

Jayden's Big Smile

Ria — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:51:00 +0000

So cute....right after a bath.

Trying out the high chair. He's not old enough to eat real food yet, but he wants to be at the table during dinner and gets upset when he can't be.

Dancing around in the bath tub!

Ethan and Jayden on the Go

Ria — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:30:00 +0000

Jayden's still a little small for the Exersaucer, but Ethan loves it when he spends some time in there and is eager to share his toys.

Jayden is getting ready to take off....

Ethan and Jayden on our couch ....

High tech Ethan ...

So this is our last post of the day... we're catching up from the last few weeks.

Jayden's New Friend

Ria — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:45:00 +0000

Jayden has been sucking his thumb and loves his doggie blanket Aunt Jen and Uncle Tony gave him.

Ethan's First Haircut

Ria — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I refused to even take him to a barber since he has so little hair, but he had random strands of hair that was a good inch or two past his ears or down his neck past the hairline so we evened it out.

Here is the before:

and here is the after:

Yes, I know there is little difference. I think I'll have to label the photos just so I remember which is before and which is after:)

Fun In The Snow!

Ria — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Ethan was too young to truly enjoy the snow last year (see first picture in Minnesota), but this year after moving from the Mountains of Much Snowia (aka. Minnesota), we have had no snow and he couldn't play in it. Last night, we got a whopping 3 inches. While I know all my Minnesotan friends are laughing about this, in Philly, it is a BIG deal. I went to the gym at 5:30 this morning and not only was it nearly empty (there are usually more than 200 people there at that time), it took me forever to get there because no one had begun plowing the roads. We're not talking the small side roads, but the major almost highway ones.

Anyway, Ethan and Mommy went outside to play this morning while Jayden slept. Ethan was frustrated at first because he couldn't keep the snow off his boots, but then started to really enjoy it.

Two Of A Kind

Ria — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:45:00 +0000

I just have been enjoying watching the boys begin to interact with each other as brothers. Jayden lights up each time Ethan runs over to talk to him and Jayden tries to talk back. Ethan wants to hold him on a regular basis.