The Carpenter Chronicles: Landon finally got his ' Get Out of Jail Free' card!!

Okay, the hospital is probably much better than jail, but there are some noted similarities, especially for a contagious baby on a leash (aka oxygen tube and pulse oximeter). Landon was admitted to the hospital, as explained in a previous post for RSV which ended up turning into pneumonia. Here is Landon's cell within a cell, or the "birdcage" as I called it, that he resided in for 13 days:

Now, RSV, or RSVP as I kept wanting to call it, is VERY contagious. For that reason, everyone that came in had to wear a yellow gown and face mask so they would not get it and pass it on. The positive side to that is that we got the room to ourselves!

Rather than go into the lengthy sordid story, suffice it to say that Landon is doing just fine now. He, by all appearances, has recovered from the RSV and pneumonia, however, he still requires oxygen while he sleeps. So we were sent home with oxygen tanks and a portable pulse oximeter. We are quickly becoming our own medical supply company! You should have seen how large my eyes got when the home care nurse explained that oxygen tanks should be stored laying down because if they get knocked over, they can take off like a rocket (not likely to happen, but scary to think about nonetheless)!

Before checking out, Landon was seen by a pulmonologist who thinks that Landon may have sleep apnea. We will need to do a sleep study in the near future to confirm and find the best treatment plan. Sleep apnea is apparently very common in children with Down syndrome. The interesting thing is that Landon could have had this all along. Now, it may seem crazy to be thankful that my little dude got sick, however, had it not been for this hospitalization, we may never have known that his oxygen saturation was dropping when he slept. Not having enough O2 in your blood is not good for you. According to the doc, it affects IQ, memory, concentration, behavior, among many other things. I'm glad we know now, so it can be addressed.

For now, the cataract and ear tube surgery have been postponed until Landon has "completely" recovered from the RSV. I imagine it will take place sometime in January. I was getting worried that we were close to Landon loosing complete use of his eye since it sometimes doesn't track with the other eye. Fortunately, Landon's opthamologist stopped by and reassured me that we are nowhere near the threshold of complete loss, though she wants to get the surgery done as soon as possible.

And now, I'll leave you with some pictures...

This is when Landon had all three leashes on - IV, oxygen and pulse oximeter. It was not fun trying to hold him and not get tangled or pull and step on any of them! Take a look at his right hand, where the IV is. We dubbed this "the club" because they must have used a whole roll of tape and put a plastic "shield" to keep him from pulling the IV out (mind you this was his THIRD IV). That thing hurt when you got hit with it!