Now that we are all accustomed to The Boy's treatment schedule and how he typically responds, it is that much easier to get in and out of the center in a reasonable amount of time. For example, the doctor usually orders blood or platelets in anticipation of The Boy needing it. We know to plan visits in such a way that the Type/Cross for blood rarely expires.
Thus, we arrived a bit before 9 and were out a bit after 12 for The Boy's receiving platelets.
I spoke with the doctors and nurses about The Boy's refusal to take Bactrim, the liquid antibiotic. The nurse who had forced (unsuccessfully) the Benadryl said that she thought her ears were burning from being talked about. There are two other options for this antibiotic. The first is to get it in a pill form. It is a larger pill, much larger than the little tiny one that he takes for his blood pressure. We'd mix it in ice cream or whatever other food item would hide it sufficiently. The second is to give The Boy an IV antibiotic treatment once a month, for an hour. The doctor said that it may not be as effective as the Bactrim, but then, an IV that actually goes in would be a lot more effective than a liquid med that doesn't. So we'll try again this weekend with the liquid and see if perhaps he has gotten over it.
Judging from the fact that he fought me on taking a syringe of Tylenol before his platelet transfusion, I'm not feeling very optimistic. The nurse suggested that we get him comfortable with the syringes again by giving him juice in the syringe. I'm not really buying that either, because The Boy will take Zofran in the syringe without a problem, once he figures out what is in there. He will take his vitamins (which smell and probably taste worse than the Bactrim) from a dropper. He will also take tylenol at home, from the dropper, when he needs it. So basically, this kid isn't stupid. We'll see if maybe the honey method will work for us again, and if not, I'll just ask to go directly to the IV medication. Perhaps The Boy will not need many additional oral meds until he is at least a little bit older.
I've been entertaining the idea of what to do about potty training. On the one hand, I think that we're a little ways from it, but on the other hand, he is able to identify what the potty is and sit himself on it (if he wants to) and he is old enough to start. That said, he would rather use the potty as a toy than as an actual potty, and it is a very little potty. He'd really need a bigger one at this point--we bought the one that we have when The Boy was 9.5 months old. Shortly before his diagnosis. At one point I didn't rinse poopy diapers for a day or two, because I was able to get him on the potty to poo. He also goes longer in between urinations--sometimes when we go to change him every two hours exactly during chemo, he isn't even wet yet. He often wakes up dry from naps. What I know about potty training is that it is dicey no matter what, and the child will complete the process when he is ready, but they also need to know about what it is before they can be ready. Basically, if I start him on potty training now, it will take us longer to complete the process, and it will be more work, but he may complete it far earlier than if I were to wait until he is much older. Or it may not stick and it won't make a difference when we start because he'll just want to do it later and not earlier.
It won't be much more work for The Boy to stay in diapers longer, as Baby Bear will be wearing them once he arrives. Most of the ones that we have can be used by either the little one or the big one.
I'd like to try to get in another nap (for both of us) before OT today. Let's see how it works.
2 comments:
What is it about that Bactrim??? Summer despises it too, as you know. Sunday night we mixed it with grape popcicle juice and her Daddy got it in her somehow. I stayed out of the room b/c I haven't been getting anything but refusals from her. And, I am the "mean" parent. LOL Anyways, we may try to get the pharmacy to dye it purple and flavor it grape this week. Wonder if that will work... I still haven't tried the honey, but I doubt she would eat it since she has never really eaten it before. Of course, it is a possibility...
I just LOVE the uncertainty of it all. It keeps me on my toes! :)
Good luck on the potty training. She was pretty easy, but I heard boys are harder. She was trained a little after her second birthday. Of course, she still has accidents sometimes. My friend's boy is 3 and still isn't trained. :)
I've been thinking about the potty training thing too. She knows when she's going as she will point to her diaper when she pees or poos now, but she is not wanting to go on the potty at all. She did a couple times by accident and now that she knows she can somewhat control it she won't go on the potty. I don't know what to do either. I kind of just backed off for now and talk about the potty when I change her. I figure if she's "trained" whithin a year (2.5 yrs)then we're doing good.
I'm surprised that David will take his vitamins with the dropper...that stuff is nasty!
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