I did not update last night because my mouth was so sore. I went to the dentist to get my permanent crown seated (after getting a cleaning). It took TWO AND A HALF VIALS of lidocaine (I take it that's a lot) and every darn thing was numb EXCEPT for the tooth that was having the crown seated. It was pure torture. They finally resorted to giving me nitrous oxide, which they rarely use, and it STILL hurt. The nitrous made me care a little less but it still hurt. I finally got out of there three hours after I arrived, and didn't get up to see Ricky. :( The good news is that today I'm feeling fine.

About Ricky:

The ENT came in and scoped Ricky's sinuses (while Dave and Andrew were there). Ricky was actually really good for this (amazing!). The ENT saw lots of pus up on the right side, and said that there had also been lots of pus in the ethmoid and maxillary sinuses on the CT scan, but that he rarely saw a CF kid's CT that did not have lots of pus. So the debate is whether to do sinus surgery on Ricky while he's in the hospital. The last time he had sinus surgery was five years ago, and at that time it was thought that he wouldn't go another year without having another sinus surgery. So he's gone a long time. They would do the surgery during this hospitalization if the pulmonologist feels that sinus problems are adversely affecting Ricky's health, such as causing more lung infections. In truth, they really are not, so my bet is that the ENT and pulmonologist will decide not to do the surgery. We'll find out later today, after they meet and review the tests etc.

After all that NPO nonsense, Ricky didn't even get his PICC line yesterday. The PICC team finally came in the afternoon to examine him, and he battled them even over the ultrasound they were using to peek at his veins to find a good one. They determined that it would not be appropriate to place the PICC as planned (under light sedation) but rather under heavy sedation, which as I understand it is the next thing to being knocked out entirely. The next opportunity to place a line like this is Friday, and he's scheduled... But it's thought that he might get out by next Wednesday, in which case it'd probably better to keep him in peripheral lines and skip the PICC. But if it's decided that he's going to have sinus surgery, we'll keep the PICC appointment. At least that's how I understood it.

Ricky actually didn't have his chest x-ray until after Dave got there. The CNA took Ricky down for this and apparently he froze up in the hallway outside the x-ray room, refusing to go in and not telling anyone what was wrong. So Dave was called and he threatened Ricky with losing his allowance, which always works, and Ricky did the chest x-ray. The doctor told Dave that the chest x-ray was actually really good. When I talked to a resident on the phone later in the evening, she mentioned a small spot of pleural effusion (another link here) in the left lung, which they were not too worried about. Reading about this condition really scared me (and also just helped me to realize that it might be the cause of Ricky's pain upon breathing in), but she said the spot was small enough that they wouldn't consider draining it. It apparently happens in CF lungs or in lungs that are just sick in general.

Spirometry, for those who don't know, is a test where a person blows hard into a machine that measures lung capacity and strength. Ricky had this test yesterday and did fairly well. Some of his numbers were higher than the last time he had it (we last went about a month ago if I recall correctly) and some were lower. Overall, not too worrisome.

Ricky's blood tests are so far coming back normal. We're still waiting for the IgE level, which will show if he might be having yet another problem with allergic reaction to mold that might be causing all of this.

There was also some confusion over meds. One of the psych meds Ricky takes is called guanfacine. The doctor also ordered guiafenesin (cough syrup -- in CF kids it's used to thin the mucus) which apparently totally confused the nurse. But I believe they worked it out.

Today I'm off work at 2:30 to come home and meet the bus. Then Andrew and I will go up and see Ricky and will also find out what the plan is.

And that's all for now. Whew.