Update on Elijah's Thumb/ Cellulitis

  We have been giving Elijah Bactrim twice a day since he was seen Friday for his infected finger.  We have been keeping it clean and trying to keep it out of his mouth.  But he is not responding to the Bactrim.  His finger actually got more swollen and red.  So last night I spoke with a nurse and she told me that after 72 hours on an antibiotic there should be improvement and it should not be getting worse.  She said it was best to go downtown Cooks and have it looked at because it could spread.
   When we got downtown they wanted to take an x-ray of his thumb to make sure it hadn't reached the bone.  They also did blood work to make sure it isn't something more serious.  After a lot of waiting they told us it that his bone looks good and nothing showed in his blood work. 
   This time he was diagnosed with Cellulitis and he was given a better antibiotic for skin infection.  She also prescribed a topical antibiotic that we can use on his finger at bed time so he doesn't put it in his mouth.  Same as last time if it worsens after 2 days we go back and have it looked at again.

Paronychia

 

  Today we had Elijah's finger looked at.  He has paronychia, so it is infected.  There hasn't been any drainage or pus so they just prescribed him an antibiotic that he will take orally for 7 days and they wrapped it up in a splint.  Of course the wrap didn't last long.  He just used it as something new to chew on.  They said if the redness starts going down his finger or gets red streaks down his arm to take him downtown so they can give him antibiotics through iv. 

Elijah Update: New Speech Therapy and Cochlear Implant Mapping

It has been a while since I have updated on Elijah.  Well, we have actually decided to try a different speech therapist.  She thinks he actually has the capability to use his dynavox with the touch screen instead of the eye gaze!  So exciting!!!!  He will be going 2 days a week now instead of 1.  They will use one of the days to do some oral motor therapy and actually work with the muscles in his mouth.  The first goal is to work on him drinking from a straw.  I am really hopeful!   He does his occupational therapy at the same place so they already know him very well there.

 

 

He has also had a mapping appointment for his cochlear implants recently.  He did better then he ever has tolerating process.  He gave us really good responses and they were able to get a really good map for him.  He will now be able to hear softer sounds.  They also added a couple of programs for when he starts school.  One program is for working with him one on one.  It will cut down on background noise.  The other program is just lowers all of the sound so they won't be as loud.  It will be good for music class and gym.  He doesn't like very loud noises.  So we will go back in a month and they are going to do a little more fine tuning.  There were too many changes that needed to be done so they couldn't do them all at once.  But it was very exciting that when we got home Elijah actually turned his head towards his dad when he called his name, for the very first time!  He is much more aware of sounds!  So this will also be good for his speech therapy!

   We are hopefully getting him new afos very soon.  His boots are rubbing his feet and his toes are pretty much at the end.  Other then that we think his finger is infected and we will get that looked at tomorrow. 

 



 





EEG Results

  We got the results for Elijah's EEG and it didn't show any changes.  It didn't show any seizure activity.  It did show abnormal activity on the side of the brain that was more affected by the virus.  So the next step is to have a CT scan done of the brain.  The only problem is that he has so many "artifacts" in the brain that it will be hard to see anything.  It also doesn't show the back of the head as well and this is where he seems to have the pain.  So hopefully that will be enough.  If it doesn't show anything he will get with our ENT and schedule to have his magnets removed from his head and do an MRI.

48 hour study/ in home EEG

  This morning they came to hook Elijah up for his 48 hour study.  The whole process took almost 2 hours.   First they set up 2 video cameras.   One where he will spend most of the day and one in the bedroom where he will be sleeping.   It took 3 of us working together to get all of the electrodes on his head.   Elijah didn't like it at all.   They used a special glue and taped them onto his head.  They wrapped it up but I know it will be a struggle to keep it on. They put 2 electrodes on his back.  (They really go on your chest but they decided to put them where it would be harder for him to reach. Well, he already pulled one off before they left so we will see how that goes.)   They put a protector over the wires because Elijah likes to chew things.   Everything else goes in a backpack that he wears on his back.   So now I just have to try and keep him in front of the video camera.   I have to keep a log of everything he does.   Tonight at bedtime we have to dress him warm because he can't sleep with any blankets.

  He did really well the first day and night.  It was a little challenging keeping him in front of the camera but he got to watch movies all day so it kept him pretty busy.  The second day Elijah decided he had had enough.  He was very angry that he still had his head wrapped and had to carry a heavy backpack.  He kept pulling the wrap off and I had to keep putting it back on.  It became too hard to do by myself so my mom and my oma came to help.  He was happy to see them!  

     That night he pulled 3 of the electrodes off of his head.  I had to call the tech's cell phone and she had to come and put them back on.  This was after 10:00 p.m.  We were so tired.  He slept through the night but he woke up before I did and pulled the wrap off again!  Luckily all of the electrodes were still in place.  The tech came that morning to take everything off. 

     I put a lot of conditioner in Elijah's hair and let it sit for 10 minutes.  Then I washed his hair 4 times.  He still has some glue in it but it looks a lot better.  So glad it is all over with.  Now we wait 2 weeks for results.

Elijah update

I just wanted to give an update on Elijah because I haven't written in so long. We are still having his vitamin D levels checked every couple months and he will see the endocrinologist in August. His levels are still low. Elijah has been having some kind of pain for months now and he is constantly reaching around to the back of his head. He has had a few seizures, his sleeping patterns have been off, he is off balance, and doesn't move around as much as he used to. So we have been referred to many different specialists to try and pinpoint the problem. First we saw the ENT to make sure his ears were okay. Everything was normal so we saw the eye dr. next. He did have irritation in both eyes. The dr. told us he basically has "acne" of the eye. So we gave Elijah eye drops for a week and we were told to wash his eyelids with baby shampoo everyday and it should make a big difference. The next stop was neurology. The neurologist ordered a 48 hour in home EEG. This will happen in a little over a week. If it shows anything we may need to do a CT scan of the brain. Swim therapy has started again and Elijah was so happy to be back! This year we bought a waterway babies neck tube. It has made a huge difference in what he is able to do in the water. He actually tried to get around on his own! It gave him more freedom.

Physical therapy update

   Elijah has been seeing a new physical therapist for a few weeks and things have been going great!  The therapist has 25+ years experience and she worked for united cerebral palsy for 10 so she is really knowledgeable.  She really knows how to get Elijah moving and he responds really well to her!
   Last week she showed me a really cool way to get him to practice his standing and do good weight bearing.  She had him stand in a corner and she sat cris cross apple sauce style right in front of him so they were face to face.  That way he couldn't escape.  She let him stand in the corner while she played patty cake games with him with songs.  He loved it!  It got him using his hands and arms too!  She also worked on trying to get him to crawl one leg at a time instead of doing the bunny hop that he has been doing.  So she would follow behind him and hold one foot down at a time and keep switching off that way he would really do the motions of one leg at a time.  He did really well.
  Today she took him into the big gym!  He worked on crawling up steps and backing down them properly instead of trying to leap head first to get down.  He did a lot of cruising between furnitures and walking with assistance.  He actually got to walk on the treadmill for the very first time today!  It took him a minute to figure it out but after he did he did a really good job!  She told us that he should walk one day!  (best news!)  That based on what she has seen there is no reason why he wouldn't!  It was a really good day!