Sick of Sick...

So Sam has been pretty ill the last week or so with bronchitis. He is on the mend but of course Scott and I caught a little of what Sam had/has... Just when you think things are getting better and Sam is more stable you get hit in the back of the head with a 2x4 and it HURTS!!! Sam for the most part has done pretty well this winter considering... His respiratory regimens have gotten more intense and because of this I can pretty much say for sure is the reason why Sam has stayed out of the hospital. We do 3 nebulizer treatments both morning and night. After the nebs Sam gets "The Vest", then he gets "the cough assist."
When Sam gets sick we have to do this regimen at least 4 times a day. I'm not complaining as it really helps keep him healthy for the most part and when he gets sick it helps him get better fast. So its either all this equipment or the hospital. I vote for the equipment. Most hospitals are usually filled with a bunch of dumb asses anyway.

Speaking of hospitals I was invited to be part of the family advisory board at one of the hospitals Sam visits frequently. I started attending meetings back in Sept. I like it and feel that I have a lot to contribute. I mostly like it because every few meetings the head of pediatrics attends and I get to bitch to him directly about the morons in the hospital. He happens to be one of the most amazing and humbled doctors I have ever spoken too. Actually most of Sam's doctors are not only great doctors but are just so nice and attentive as well. When I speak of the morons in the hospital I am mostly talking residents, ER nurses, techs, etc... Not all of them but most of them. Sam is lucky that Scott and I could be total assholes and just act like everyone works for us. I'm generally not like this when it comes to me but when it comes to Sam there is nothing I wouldn't do or say. For example... the last time we had to run to the ER it was packed. The nurse evaluated Sam in the triage then asked us to go back out into the waiting room until we were called. So in the nicest most polite voice I could possibly muster at that moment I said, "My son doesn't wait in a waiting room ever, he is severely respitorily compromised, needs constant suctioning, gets fed solely through a g-tube and can turn on us at any second... And if he destats and starts turning blue and is not immediately attended to I will hold you personally responsible. Oh and by the way we are always given the private room behind you because we need our own sink and television :)." And of course within 5 minutes we were in the private room. I don't know what my point is with this story... I don't know if I would have ever been this assertive if it weren't for Sam and Scott. Scott really taught me to be this way. I was always more of a people pleaser, which in some ways I still am. However, when it comes to Sam I am borderline psychotic and could care less about anything else.

Sam also lost one of his PE
Tubes. So next week we see the ENT and schedule a date to get them replaced. This requires Sam to be anesthetized and intubated which is never fun for me, but considering all that Sam has already been through this procedure is cake.