The Sunday night after our weekend away was rough. Bryson and I were home and I was cooking dinner. Sometimes I let him play with the pots and pans out of one of my kitchen drawers. He usually has a great time and it actually entertains him for a little while {which nothing else really seems to do at this point). So, he was playing with a pot and I was cooking. The next thing I knew I heard a shattering sound and just saw broken glass all over the kitchen floor. I didn't have shoes on and neither did Bryson, and I had hot food on the stove. Somehow I managed to get through the glass to him, pick him up, and put him on the carpet without him getting cut. In the meantime I noticed that a sliver of the glass must have hit my leg because I was bleeding pretty badly. Bryson kept pointing to my leg saying "boo boo, boo boo."
So, I got all of that cleaned up, we ate dinner and Bryson had a bath. Shortly after that, in a matter of TWO seconds time, Bryson cut his finger on a can out of the trash. There was literally blood EVERYWHERE. I couldn't get it to stop. This was at about 8:30pm. I started panicking a little bit about Tetanus, and didn't know if he was up to date on his immunizations. He has been sick every time we have tried to get shots since his twelve month shots. I also couldn't get his finger to stop bleeding for long enough to tell how deep the cut was.
It was the Kenleys to the rescue. Jenny came over and drove Bryson and I to the ER in my car so that I could sit in the back seat and keep pressure on Bryson's finger. Scott and the Kenley kids followed behind us. This makes me realize {even more} how important friends are.
By the time we got there I knew that it probably didn't need stitches, and a nurse was nice enough to come out and talk to me about everything before we paid our huge co-pay. She checked an immunization schedule and said that he should be fine, but to follow-up with his pediatrician the next day just to get caught up.
Monday we went in for his 15 month shots. He did pretty well with them, until this rash broke out on his leg a few days later:
Poor kid! Luckily it ended up going away with no other major side effects.
When we got the shots I scheduled a well-check for the next week, hoping he would actually be well.
Saturday he started running fever. He seemed okay so I just thought it was probably a delayed reaction to the shots {sometimes that happens}.
We went in on Monday for his well-check at which time I was told that he has yet another ear infection. I've honestly lost track of what number this is. She said this is his third once since the one he had at Christmas. Let me rephrase that. This is his FOURTH ear infection in FOUR months. We were reunited with our good friend Omnicef and are hoping it wipes out this infection. The pediatrician couldn't believe how well he was acting when she saw how bad his ear was.
Here is the hard part. She said {and another pediatrician told us this with the last one} that he should out grow these ear infections around the age of 2 {in approximately 3 months}, and that when cold season is over with {which will also be with the warmer summer weather} the chance of him getting ear infections will dramatically decrease.
To wait on tubes or not to wait on tubes?
Surgery or no surgery?
Of course I would opt for no surgery if possible. Bryson is handling the infection really well- how sad to even write that!
But it's true- if we can hold out without being cruel to our child {I don't ever want him to hurt} then I think we should. In the same breath though, I can say that I think the actual surgery is quick and pretty painless, and is a great option if necessary.
Basically I'm just rambling on to document what we are thinking right now in regards to all of this. There are so many decisions to make as parents {and I know that we've only begun to scratch the surface}.
Next week we have a follow-up appointment to re-check his ears at which time if they are not clear I'm sure we will be referred to an ENT.
At this point we are just ready to know what we are going to do. Time to make a move one way or another.
We will see!
***On a side note--- the nurse practitioner I work with suggested that I give Bryson a vitamin C supplement to hopefully make his ear canal too acidic for bacteria to inhabit. She said this is the latest new thought on treating bladder infections- and thinks that it should also work in the ear. Makes sense to me. And any excess of vitamin C is urinated out {no chance of overdosing}. We figured that there isn't much to lose here, and have started him on some gummy supplements in addition to his Juice Plus.
Kind of hoping for a miracle...
