MRSA

Well, you would think I would be familiar with the ups and downs by now, but it I still get so discouraged with any setbacks. On Thursday, August 6, Caden had his follow-up with the pulmonologist who did his bronchoscopy. I asked her if the cultures showed anything or not and she said that the culture they took from his lungs grew MRSA. For those of you who haven't heard of this, it is “methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.” Not the easiest bug to get rid of. And it seems the majority of people who get it receive it while in the hospital. And, since our little man spent two months living in a hospital, apparently, he was lucky enough to get it! Kidding, of course.

Just when we were finishing up all our medications (today), we have to start four weeks of oral antibiotics. :( Our pulmonologist said this definitely makes Caden more susceptible to bronchitis, pnemonia, asthma, etc. She said this next fall/winter we will for sure be getting synagis shots for him (to prevent RSV).

The other bummer related to this, as if this wasn't enough, is that his right lung is already small. We've been hoping for more growth in the lung tissue and hoping that it will grow a little bigger with more use. However, because of the MRSA, the lung has been focusing all it's attention on fighting the infection and probably hasn't been able to grow at all. She said it was possible it would even help his breathing rate slow down since it has been consistently high.

I have to mention the silver lining of the day, however. She said there was absolutely NO sign of aspiration in the lungs which was GREAT news. After the bronchoscopy we had stopped all attempts at oral feedings because there was still the risk of aspiration due to the damaged right vocal cord. But it appears that despite the damage, the cords and the epiglottis are able to fully protect the airway. So she said we are safe to begin attempting oral feedings again. I am really happy about this because Caden is already extremely sensitive to anything going in his mouth. His oral aversions are terrible. So I didn't want to lose any more ground by having to wait indefinitely to start up again, if at all.

So, please pray for Caden as he continues to fight this infection. Obviously he's been battling it for more than 5 months now and we had no idea. But hopefully this antibiotic will help clear it up and help him breathe easier as well as help his lungs grow new tissue. Mixed blessings at our appointment for sure.