Thanks for all the encouraging words and prayers! Aiden is doing much better! The new antibiotics seemed to have addressed the GI issues he was experiencing and he is feeling more like his jolly old self again. Although he is not 100% back to baseline, he is back off of the O2 and doing much better.

Ethan is also doing well. (He had experienced an asthma like attack while Aiden was in the hospital.) Aiden’s pulmonologist has prescribed a some daily maintenance meds that will hopefully help prevent another attack of this severity going forward. It is difficult enough to have one sick child, but things are significantly more challenging when two are sick!

We have been enjoying some incredibly beautiful warm weather these past two days. The boys were thrilled to finally get outdoors and soak up some sun! Some images below.

Here comes trouble

Aiden is climbing to the top

Evan, what are you looking at?

Get the rings!

I see you

Ethan tries to hide

They love this

Castle Park is one of their favorites

Aunt Aleta and Ethan bounce up and down

The tongue is always out

Time to feed the ducks

Get over here duckies!

Evan explaining things to Mommy

Still explaining…

What a cute face!

Update: 1/25/11 Aiden is back home but his digestive system is still not back to normal. We started his ‘feeds’ again and will see how things go. The test cultures should be available either today or tomorrow so hopefully we will have an idea of what is causing this and how to treat it.

As if Aiden’s issues were not enough, Ethan has been having a hard time breathing and is constantly wheezing. He is now on daily breathing treatments and we need to take him to see the pulmonologist to figure out how to manage this. While it does not happen very often, these respiratory issues have happened a few times in the past year so we need to get it under control.

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1/22/11 It’s January. It’s a new year. It’s NFL playoffs. It’s cold. Aiden is sick…

It is as if his medical issues are on a specific schedule. He has been unable to keep anything down and had non-stop diarrhea the last week. He was purging so much fluid that we had to take him to the hospital this morning to get an IV and he will be there through the night.

We think the root of the problem is a bacterial infection (he has no sign of viral symptoms). When this happened the last few times, the medications we used worked within 24 hours. Unfortunately, this time it seems to have no effect. So, we are hoping to get him some fluids and try another drug that has worked in the past.

He is borderline dehydrated, hasn’t been able to keep food down in two days and hasn’t slept well at all. Please keep him in your prayers that he would recover from this setback (and that it will not mean another trip to Boston).

At the beginning of 2010, Aiden was experiencing painful GI symptoms which caused severe abdominal pain, internal bleeding, vomiting bile, and multiple diaper changes an hour. Then there was the trip to Children’s Hospital in Boston, seizure, serious lung issues, removal of his j-tube, many, many tests, surgeries, and 4+ months spent in and out of the hospital away from home. What a way to start the year!

As always, Aiden is full of surprises for us and 2010 ended on a somewhat similar note. On the last day of the year, Aiden got x-rays of his hips and left leg. He has clearly been favoring and dragging his left leg when he walks, so our Doctor recommended some x-rays. They did not show any breaks or fractures, but his walk is definitely not normal. There are a number of other possibilities, including a pulled muscle, fluid ‘pockets’ and swelling in the joints, and several other things, but at this point we will have to wait and see. He will most likely need an ultrasound of his hips next week to rule out a couple of possibilities.

Despite all of Ethan and Evan’s ‘stunts,’ other than a few bumps and scratches they have (thankfully!) had no major issues.

How to characterize 2010? It went from brutal to hopeful. It was a long year and we are glad to have it behind us. Let’s see what 2011 brings!

Happy New Year!