Ricky's home. :D

Ricky update

Well, Ricky is doing pretty well. He still has some "crackles" (mucus/pneumonia) in his right lung which means he'll be in the hospital at least a few more days. His spirits are, as always, high, and he's being really good about his treatments, which is definitely a "turn around the corner". I feel I can leave him there on his own a little bit more each time he is in... I have actually spent a couple of nights away from him now and he's done fine.

I want to thank you all for your generosity and concern. Ricky's been sicker than usual this past year or so, but I (and the hospital) am taking care of him the best I can.

Ricky's in Club Med(icine)

Well, with the shortest interval ever (2 months) between hospitalizations, Ricky is in again. He's had this cough/pneumonia for several weeks that he just couldn't kick. This time we tried almost everything, from 4 treatments/ThAIRapy Vest per day to Prednisone (steroid) which tends to make him agressive.

I feel better that at least we tried everything we could before putting him in the hospital, but this is all still pretty depressing.

He's being his usual wonderful self. For the first time ever, we are going to try having me sleep at home rather than spending nights with him... Mostly because Rick goes to work very early and I'll need to be the one who takes Andy to day care. Also because Ricky's getting older.

We did receive some bad news from one of Ricky's favorite nurses, Katherine. That is that Ricky's roommate from his stay in November of last year recently died. His name was Adam, and he was only 16. He also had cystic fibrosis. Ricky really looked up to him and admired him (he has a serious love for the "big kids") so I felt I had to tell him the news. He handled it well. He cried a little bit and laid his head on me. But he has the best of human nature... Since I told him he is now talking about the stuff he and Adam did together when they were roommates.

The hospital visit got off to a bang start (after four hours of waiting for a nurse to take a history and vitals) with Ricky kicking and trying to bite the respiratory therapist. The nurse and I quickly established a sticker chart (which we do at home anyway) with hospital routines (taking meds, doing treatments, eating meals, being good at recreation therapy, etc.) on it and the next treatment went well.

In the usual hospital fashion, Ricky's sharing the four patient room with one baby with seizures (no problem) and... TWO CF kids! Big no-no (cross infection)! The docs are really going to hear from me in the morning! Otherwise it's going routinely. Thankfully my work is understanding...

If you want to send Ricky a card, for the next 7-10 days you can write him at:

Richard Whicker
Patient
Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital
725 Welch Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304

More later. Right now I need to get my beauty (ha!) sleep.