Half the Energy, Twice the Spunk

The boys are healthy (yea!).

The cat's are healthy.

Mom's falling apart, but thrilled that everyone else is finally in one peice.

Onward and upward.

Both boys are cool, happy, and playing today!
Brandon had a GREAT sleep last night - likely a combination of the antibiotics doing their thing, and the Cough Assist machine clearing out his chest before bed...
Tyler is completely back to himself, which is wonderful to see after 2.5 weeks of being sick!

Brandon is well on the way.

Unfortunately we have had to make the decision to pull Tyler out of daycare for the rest of the year. We kept him home from Sept-Feb hoping to avoid the worst of flu season. He does alright with the illnesses, but they are so so hard on Brandon that we just couldnt risk it.
Unfortunately he was only back at daycare for a week and a half and this last brutal bout of illness took hold. Its just too hard on Brandon.

Thankfully kindergarden will start in the fall and he will be in a less 'snotty' environment - its just impossible to avoid with daycare.

For now we will enjoy some newfound health, and happy kids.

Well Brandon had a better day though he is still getting feverish and his chest sounds awful.
The boys had me build a giant fort in the living room which kept them pretty content for the morning at least.

This afternoon we drove into the city to see the Respitory Therapist and pick up our new 'toy'.

Because of the weakness Brandon's disorder causes, he has alot of trouble coughing. its been an issue for a while, and basically when he's sick, you can hear his chest grumbling and rattling and you just want to cough FOR him... but when he coughs it just doesn't accomplish much at all, as he just cant get enough force built up. It's just part and parcel for neuromuscular diseases unfortunately.

We talked about a machine called a Cough Assist a while back and this illness has made it clear he needs the extra help, and thankfully the respitory department had one kicking around (their 5000$ a pop from what Im told - yeesh!), so it now lives beside Brandons bed.

Basically its a machine that hooks up to a mask that goes over Brandons face. the machine will blow air into his lungs, get them good and inflated, then very quickly suck the air out - essentially forcing him to cough.

It is odd. It feels odd, and we thought it would be a nightmare to get him used to it... he wasn't sure about it at the clinic but by the 3rd round at home, he was asking for more, so its clearly making him feel better!!

Like all new peices of equipment - its a tough pill to swallow, as it represents disease progression and increased needs... but at the same time it is something that will make his life easier, and make him feel better... which makes it worth it.

Hoping tommorrow is a cooler and happier day for him.


Tyler is almost 100% again... happy, healthy, and very much Tyler.
Today he explained to the respitory therapist what DNA was ("did you know thats what our cells are made of?!")... he's a hoot! :)

Thanks for checking...

Keely

Brandon was started on antibiotics yesterday (keflex) for the beginnings of pnemonia after several days of very high fevers, and a very cruddy sounding chest...
He's already seeming a little less rough today... though his cough is just awful.

Tyler is cool, and I beleve on the mend.

I think we can see a light at the end of the tunnel.