Pulmonary Clinic Day report

Today was another scheduled doctor's visit - at the Pulmonary Specialty Clinic.



Our appointment time was 9am, so I turned on my alarm for our normal wake up time for school. But I had forgotten my husband had turned off the electricity to our room to put in a new light switch the other day. That meant the alarm clock thought the alarm should be set for 12:00 not 6am.



Luckily, my sister called and woke me to tell me something she heard on the radio on her way to work - but it was long past the time I was planning to get up. It was already almost 7:40AM. I had hoped to be ready to leave by 8AM. We skipped Josh's morning breathing treatment, grabbed a bite to eat on the way and the nurse helped us get everything loaded. We left out a few minutes later than I'd hoped.

Luckily, traffic wasn't too bad and we arrived at the clinic right on time - actually about 8:50AM.


At the weigh in...



Josh is now 212 pounds (which is not really more than at his last doctor's visit in December)... and his height came in at about 5 foot 5 and a half inches (which is about a half inch more than the last check). That means his weight has held steady even though he is still growing taller at a good rate. That is good news!

There was a bit of concern when they took his blood pressure the first time. But when he sat down and relaxed a couple of minutes and they took it a second time, it was nice and low. So, that was good.



The dietician came in next....

she said we seem to be doing a good job... but she gave us some papers to study about helping make good food choices and tips on helping you eat more small, low cal meals throughout the day, and make sure you understand labels on your food. We already knew about that. They officially put Josh on a 2,000 calorie a day diet - which is about where he is now, I think. And we talked about what a good sodium level in our food should be for a day. She said 2,000 mg. I think we are probably under that most days.

The respiratory therapist was next... to do PFTs (pulmonary function tests)... Josh did very well on them... see pics/videos below:












A new case manager is on duty for us now.... Irene... she will follow up with our DME (durable medical equipment) company about getting extra sterile q-tips and 2x2 guaze to help with extra trach care sessions to help prevent the spread of any MRSA that is currently colonized in Josh's trach area.



Then, after we had been at the office for over 2 hours, we finally saw the pulmonologist (lung doctor) Dr. Kelly Smith.



We went over all the pertinent stuff that had happened with Josh since the last time we'd seen him: hospitalized after Thanksgiving following stomach bug for dehydration, suspected sinus type infection and two different antibiotics (augmentin for 10 days then Bactrim DS for ten days)... mentioned that sputum culture had grown MRSA (nasty infection) at that time. Sputum is no long ugly, discolored, but nurse reports it still has fowl odor. So, Dr. Smith orders another sputum culture today to make sure it's not "taking over the neighborhood" as he explains it. We should get results back on that in a couple of days.

We brought in Josh's memory card from his bedside ventilator, so we gave that to them to download (in case it has info that could be pertinent).



Then, it was signing paperwork, getting our copies..... (see Josh's current doctor orders below)....








Then we loaded back into the van and headed for home.

We got home around 1pm, and finally got eat some lunch!!

Now, I've faxed off the paperwork to Medicaid Transportation, proving we did indeed go see that doctor that is 19 miles from our home.

PRESCRIPTION PROBLEMS

And we've been having issues with Josh's prescriptions. Medicaid is supposed to be paying the co-pays on them. But since we started a new primary insurance this year, they are experiencing a glitch in their system, wanting the pharmacy to first bill our old insurance company before they will pay. I've tried calling Medicaid, and the other number they gave me to report the change in our primary insurance. I ended up having to leave a voice message. When they returned my call, they said because I was not the policy holder or pharmacy, they could not take any information from me! James is the policy holder and has to sleep until the time this place closes because he works nights! So, I called the pharmacy back and told them the whole story. They will try again to get it all worked out. I hope they do it soon, so we can pick up the three prescriptions that are sitting there waiting on us right now.

Next, Josh and I have to take back the cart I bought from Target, that I am not using for his ventilator and medical supplies (since I was able to use the baby stroller base).

Then, it will be time to get coffee up to James and start getting dinner ready. And I need to start work on my first internet class for English, and work on applying for more scholarships.


Tomorrow, it's back to work, come home to meet with our home respiratory therapist who will be stopping by to go over the ventilator with our newly hired MALE nurse for Josh. Then, I will have to fix and eat dinner quickly and head off for the first night of Anatomy & Physiology II classes this semester.

PHEW!!!! That is alot to do in the next 24 hours or so!!! I'd better get to it!!!

Wind, Dream Hunt and Christmas stuff

Wicked West Texas Winds

Winds of more than 60 miles per hour whipped through parts of West Texas yesterday, Tuesday, December 8th, doing damage to structures and even the community's 50 foot tall Christmas tree at Starbright Village.

I first learned of the winds when my mother, who is learning to text on her cell phone, sent me a message stating her neighbor's barn had blown over the fence into her back yard. The story to air on CBS7 News at 10pm.

She said she called the tv station after she saw it happen and they came to film and interviewed her. (She thought to do that because I used to work at CBS 7 news for a long time).

Here's my mom, Mary Ashley:

Here are pictures of the damage from the station's website:

Here is the written version of the story from the station's website:

Wicked Winds Wreak Havoc on Permian Basin 12/8/09

Beau Berman CBS 7 News

bberman@cbs7.com

December 8, 2009

Midland, Texas -

Trees and power lines fell victim to fierce winds that took hold of the Permian Basin today, affecting travel on Interstate 20 and tearing down nearly everything in their path.

Whether you were driving the Interstate or cruising through the city, 60 mph winds made their mark on the roadways.

"In December you don't expect it. In March, maybe. But this time of year you don't usually expect that kind of wind", said West Odessan, Terri Bomar.

Drivers on I-20 didn't know what to expect, facing tumbleweeds left and right, evidence of the vicious wind rifling across the highway.

In West Odessa, the wind wreaked havoc on a horse barn.

"I first saw the roof flying up and folding over and in a little while, puff again and another part of it blew over", said neighbor, Mary Ashley.

The wind ripped the three-wall metal structure out of the ground and over the fence as its inhabitants looked on.

"We would have lost seven horses", said the owner, Mrs. Bomar.

She came home to find her barn upside down, a $25,000 financial blow.

"If it would have gone the other way it would have been a tragedy", she said.

In Odessa’s “Starbright Village”, the holidays took a hit.

The metal cords holding up the city’s Christmas tree were no match for the wind today off I-20 where even the Starbright Village Christmas Tree came tumbling down.

"I heard that it was supposed to be pretty bad. I didn't know it was going to do this though", said Ashley.

High-powered gusts took down power lines in Midland, just another sign indicating the ferocity of these winds.

CBS 7's own signal tower found itself in the middle of the windstorm.

For Terri, the wind signaled the downfall of her barn, but she’s not blowing it out of proportion.

"Ohh... I can't tell you how thankful. God's watching over us today. That's for sure", said Bomar.

The heavy wind gusts have blown their way out of the Basin for now but Starbright Village is closed until further notice from the city of Odessa.

Joshua's Dream Hunt coming up
We have BIG plans for this upcoming weekend. Joshua has been asked to be featured on another TV show. He gets to go on a Dream Hunt for a deer in Del Rio, Texas. He has never done anything like this before.

Josh has some mixed feelings about it. He's excited to be going to shoot a gun with his dad. But not sure he will want to get near a dead animal.

His dad is super excited for him, though, and can't wait to see the big buck the scouts have been watching and tracking for us.

I'm just glad Josh has his pacers so he can maneuver into the deer blind easier and still breathe big enough.

If you want to learn more about the non-profit agency responsible for the hunt and the tv show, check out their website:

http://www.castofdreams.com/index.php

Right now, it looks like we should have some nice weather for the hunt in Del Rio. Here's the forecast:

Below are some pictures I took last weekend when we went to let Josh practice shooting a friend's gun in preparation for the hunt.

I feel cruddy

I'm starting to feel like I'm coming down with a bad cold or flu (hope not though - especially with the big plans over the weekend coming up). I started feeling pretty achy around my neck yesterday and a little feverish though I haven't seen my temperature go up really. I've had a little congestion. I'm taking lots of vitamins and some medicine and trying to get lots of rest and drink lots of liquids. Hopefully I'll kick this thing soon so I'll be ready to go.

Christmas Gifts

Josh received a box this week from a very special Christmas elf. Inside was a beautiful stocking with his name on it and several small gifts. They are wrapped but the paper is tearing so I told him to leave them in the box for now and I'll tape them up while he's at school and then we can put them under the tree.

I was so glad he received some gifts because we just can't afford to buy Christmas gifts this year. We are having to save every penny we can to pay the taxes on our house.

One of Josh's nurses went with him yesterday and helped him buy gifts to give to us. That was SO SWEET of her. Josh was ear to ear smiles as they told us not to peak and wrapped the gifts.

Christmas Plans

We hope we may have visitors for Christmas since it does not look like we'll be able to go see our family in Odessa like we had hoped this year. My parents will have to make arrangements for my dad to get his dialysis done here and have oxygen available for him. And hopefully we can talk James' mother into coming along, too. Josh really wanted to have Christmas at home, anyway. And Steffany will be too far along in her pregnancy to travel outside of the San Antonio area, so maybe we'll get to spend the day with her, too. James and I will have to work right up to Christmas Eve anyway.

Merry Christmas Video

Below is a video I put together a couple of years ago at Christmas time. I really love the Christmas songs and enjoyed putting pictures to it. I hope you like it, too.

reminder.... I've still got lots of Stethoscope Covers to sell (or give for a donation) if you'd like one, let me know. Drop me a line at jwooten116@att.net.

Check them out at my recent blog post : http://vwootenworld.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

Family Fitness Fun

Joshua was one of a select few invited to attend a Family Fitness Event today at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Here is his invitation:

According the the San Antonio Spurs Website, Bruce Bowen
"in the spring of 2004 launched GET FIT with Bruce and Buddy, a comprehensive program aimed toward fighting child obesity in San Antonio … teamed up with H-E-B and the Spurs Foundation to promote healthy living through fitness and nutrition … during the 2004-05 season over 2,000 boys and girls participated in the program"

Registration started at 8AM and the "race" began at 9AM... so we had to get up and get there EARLY for a Saturday morning.



After we arrived, we got to stand around out in the cold (44 degrees) and wind for at least half an hour before much was happening.



Then a couple of girls from a local fitness center were on hand to help warm everybody up with some stretches and lots of jumping jacks. Even the Spurs Coyote and HEB'S Buddy did their stretches... The last stretch was the Coyote's special eyeball stretch where he took his eyes off his face and turned them about. That had everyone in stitches!

Then, the Spurs #12 Bruce Bowen arrived in a special Get Fit green shirt and his knit tobaggon hat (because it was cold out there). He stepped on stage to welcome everyone for coming out.







Then, he, Coyote and HEBuddy went to get into place to walk/run with the kids and families...... and we were off!



After the race, all the kids were treated to fresh fruit from HEB, medals and certificates for completing the race. Then, they drew names for special prizes. Josh's name was not drawn. And he didn't get the chance to actually shake Bruce Bowen's hand, have his picture taken with him or even speak to him, but Bruce did see us as we crossed the finish line, pushing Joshua's ventilator cart. Instead of mentioning anything to do with the ventilator or tubes connecting Joshua to it, he mentioned Josh's dad's hat - a Dallas Cowboy's football hat.



Bruce talked about San Antonio hosting the Cowboy's for training camp. Josh - after hearing that - decided he should have worn his own Dallas Cowboy's hat. We told him that was okay. What was important is that we all went out together and exercised and had fun.

If you'd like to read more about Bruce Bowen, the Spurs and the Family Get Fit event, click here.