Finally, Aiden has returned home! He still has extensive aspiration pneumonia in both lungs and air throughout his chest and around his heart; but it appears to have stabilized and does not seem to be getting any worse. The subcutaneous air and swelling in his neck and upper chest has improved slightly.

His O2 requirements seem to have stabilized as well, and we can certainly maintain his stats with O2 at home and watch him just as closely, without having to expose him to all of the nasty stuff that is going around in the hospital. There is really nothing that they were doing in the hospital that we cannot handle at home (given that we have pretty much established our own home hospital/medical supply co. over the last 3 years!).

The hospital docs were somewhat hesitant about him leaving as they wanted to keep him at least through next week. But we felt that this is really best for Aiden and his pulmonologist agrees. We know that he is so much happier and will heal more quickly at home in an environment where he is more relaxed & comfortable, and can get some much-needed rest.

We will continue outpatient x-rays & blood work to monitor the air in his chest and his WBC counts in the days and weeks to come. His doctors are still concerned that there is something else brewing–probably GI related–but nothing has shown up in testing and there is not much we can do at this point except watch and wait.

As you can imagine, Aiden is ecstatic to be home, with Daddy & his brothers, and in his own bed. Thank you for your continued faithful prayers and all the words of encouragement; we are so thankful for each of you and the many prayers that we know are going up on Aiden’s behalf which have made such a difference. Please continue to pray that Aiden’s body will heal without further respiratory or GI complications, and that his medical team will have wisdom in knowing how best to keep him comfortable and address some of the resulting/associated health issues.

Glad to be back!

Aiden watches while his brothers run

So happy that Mommy and Aiden are home

He wants to get out of the stroller

Here comes trouble…

Out of the stroller, but still attached

For Aiden, this is the closest thing to freedom (for now)

As mentioned previously, we knew that something else was brewing with Aiden. His blood work confirmed that, and for the past several days he has been very lethargic. Yesterday morning, he developed some additional air in his upper chest (pneumomediastinum) and neck area, and has also developed some subcutaneous air (under the skin) around the neck & collarbone, which is also rather painful. The doctors are watching it closely will do more x-rays in the AM.

We were pleasantly surprised, however, that today (for the first time in several days!), he actually wanted to hold his cars, showed some interest in a movie & even colored for a little bit, which was so good to see after the past couple of days. We even saw a tiny smile!

For now, we are in a holding pattern, watching and waiting to see what happens, and praying that the additional air in his chest does not require further intervention. The doctors are still concerned that there may also be some additional GI issues flaring up to further complicate things. We are so grateful for all of your prayers and kind thoughts for Aiden. Please continue to pray that his body will begin to heal w/o further respiratory or GI complications.

Temporarily reunited to watch a movie at the hospital

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Aiden is doing marginally better over the last few days. His blood work shows much better results as the anti-biotics are working and the x-rays show the conditions of his lungs have not deteriorated (although they have not significantly improved either). He is still on constant oxygen.

Unfortunately, he still has intense pain in the left side of the chest which is baffling considering there is nothing significantly visible on the x-rays. They did start giving some strong pain medication which has helped but he still complains of pain in the left area of his chest. And of course, he will not sleep in the bed and will only stay in his stroller (his comfort spot).

Thanks for your continued prayers!

In his safe spot

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Monday night was a rough night for Aiden as he had difficulty maintaining his oxygen and dealing with intense pain overnight. X-rays indicate some additional infiltrates in the left lung and symptoms indicate that he may have developed a pneumothorax that is not visible on the x-ray.

On a positive note, yesterday morning’s labs show that he is responding to the antibiotic coverage, which is a very good sign. Even so, he is still in pain and both he and Hannah are getting very little sleep at the hospital.

We are so grateful for your continued prayers!

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Aiden is back in the hospital 🙁 Over the weekend, he got a 104 degree temperature, had difficulty breathing and had an excessive heart rate. So, we had no choice but to take him back. It appears to have been caused from aspiration pneumonia but we are waiting on x-ray results to confirm. He is back on oxygen and is clearly having some pain in his chest.

Ethan and Evan are not at 100% as one has a bad cough and the other has what appears to be an ear infection. Winters are brutal! But at least it is not as bad as last year. Nevertheless, please keep us (and especially Aiden) in your prayers.

At least we were able to enjoy the snow for a little while before all this. The entire area was pretty much shut down but the boys had a great time playing outdoors (see pictures below).

Ready to go out and play in the snow

Aiden loves this

Snow everywhere!

Ethan tries to hit me with a snowball

Loving it!

Trying to make more snowballs