After Joshua had the procedure last Tuesday to open up the right side of his wound to allow the infected pus to drain out, we expected that would be the last step to finally get rid of his persistent MRSA infection. Everything seemed to be going according to plan the rest of the week as the wound cleared up and no more pus came out. Then came the weekend and the opposite side of the wound, the left side, started looking suspiciously red and a little shiny. We were immediately concerned, especially since Josh seems to prefer to get sick at night or on the weekend when the doctors are not available, but his temperature and heart rate remained stable so we were cautiously optimistic it was just a skin irritation like the nurses suggested. Of course this was not the case since our little family cannot catch a break like that, it always seems to be a worst case scenario with us. When the surgeon saw his wound on Monday, she was shocked how different it looked from Friday. She promptly squeezed pus out of the right side of the wound then called for her surgical kit so she could open Josh up on that side. The procedure was much worse on Josh this time around for some reason. I was forced to hold his legs down so he couldn't kick while the surgeon was cutting. Despite the pain medicine, he screamed the whole time and his heart rate skyrocketed. And all the while I had to keep his legs pinned down with blood running everywhere so the surgeon could see what she was doing. It was awful.
The wound looked better on Tuesday so our surgeon just repacked the wound and no additional cutting or squeezing was required. Joshua watched her like a hawk the entire time, it was pretty funny because it seemed to disconcert her. He just stared at her face as if to say "come on lady, just try to poke at me today". We again desperately hope this is the last procedure required to FINALLY get rid of this miserable infection. Josh is back on the antibiotics for at least 48 hours and then their need will be reassessed.
On the feeding side, things continue to go well so we remain very thankful for this. Josh is up to 35 cc's every three hours and the doctor plans on going up to 40 soon. He accepts each new amount readily, he is a hungry little fella. Still no word on when we could possibly skip this joint. Thanksgiving decorations went up last week.
The photos below were taken by my sister-in-law, Anne. The pictures are very precious to me since they accurately portray Joshua's sweet spirit and how incredibly essential he is in my life. I am smitten with him.
Having beautiful pictures of Joshua taken is just one of the many, many things I will miss with my brother's family moving to Texas next week. Many happy memories have been made at the Decatur Manning house so it was a little sad to go there Sunday for a last dinner of delicious chili and cornbread. I will miss you guys so very much! I wish you the best as you start your new life in Texas (and you better visit often)!!
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