Update from Today 10/27/09

I know many of you have had questions about what has been going on today.  Nicholas has been having problems with his blood sugar levels.  For those of you that don’t know, Nicholas is hypoglycemic.  This means that he has low blood sugar levels – the oposite of a diabetic.  For the past few weeks, those levels have been dropping more frequently and the numbers have been lower than normal.  He dropped to 35 last week and felt as though he would pass out.

Of course we have been very concerned, as nothing has changed in his diet or activity level, so we contacted his doctors in Chapel Hill.  In the past, the endocrine team would not see Nicholas because he is not a “diabetic.”  But we felt that this was something that needed to be looked at.  The doctors in pulmonary and endocrine agreed. 

They told us they could see him at 3pm this afternoon, so John picked Nick up from work, I left school and got on my way.  Basically all they told us was that they couldn’t tell us anything today without running several bloodtests.  They drew blood to test his insulin, and to get an average of what his levels have been over the past three months.  It is amazing that they can do that.  They are testing him for something else, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is.

They also suggested that, while Nicholas is doing a great job with his intake on carbs, that he needs to be more conscious of the protein that he eats.  He needs to include more protein with the carbs to try to balance them out.  They also encouraged him to get back on a regular schedule with his feeds.  Nicholas eats so much during the day, he has a hard time geting hooked up to his feeds over night.  We have got to do better with them.  This is also affecting his weight.  When he was released form the hospital in July, he weighed 116 pounds.  Today, he weighed 109…

They say the only other tests they can do is while he is experiencing the low blood sugars.  If we don’t see an improvement, they may have to hospitalize him, wait for his levels to drop, and then run the tests.  We really don’t want to have to do that.

So that’s what’s been going on today.  We were back home by 8pmish.  It was a LONG day.  We are hoping that the suggestions they gave us will help.  Thank you all for the comments, prayers, and good thoughts today.

What the Doc Said

Well the doctor came in this afternoon and said they were very pleased with Nicholas’ lung function today.  They think he may be fine to go home in time for the weekend.  They are going to repeat his lung function on Thursday or Friday just to make sure, but hopefully things will be the same if not better and dwe can go home on Friday.

They are also pleased with the fact that Nicholas is gaining weight.  He was up to 10 and a half pounds today.  We just have to get him through the next week of food.  After a while, due to the antibiotics, he loses his appetite.  Finding things to get him to eat becomes a scavenger hunt.  🙂  So we will be focusing on that this week too.

We are all so excited!  I can’t wait to have my whole family home under the same roof and to sleep in my own bed.  Thank you for your prayers, calls, messages, and cards.  They are so appreciated.  We love you all dearly!

Robin

Lung Function

The Griffin’s are thanking God for answered prayers. Nicholas went down for a lung function test this afternoon. His lung function was up!  Last Thursday his lung function was 44%…today it was 57%!!  God is so good.  Nicholas says that he is beginning to breathe easier and he is feeling a little better as well.

This is such great news!  Thank you all for your thoughts, cards, and prayers.  Please continue to pray for Nicholas.  This MAY mean that he can come home earlier than the anticipated three weeks.  🙂  So keep those prayers a comin’!!

Robin

Home

We got home right at 7:30.  I thought Oscar was going to lick my face off.  He was soooo excited.  It feels good, but weird to be home.  I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.

Miranda is all set with her cast and she says she can tell a major difference between this cast and the soft one.  It doesn’t hurt as bad and she can bend her knee.  She’s getting around a lot better too.

Now we have to unpack, go to the grocery store tomorrow, and try to get back in the swing of things.  Thanks again to all of you who have prayed and will continue to pray for us, who came to visit, mailed us cards everyday so we could have mail from home, and who come faithfully to read the blog.  We couldn’t do it without your support and God’s love.  It was a long 23 days.

Robin