Faith's Mom's Blog

 As mentioned in my previous post  Faith had to go back to the ER about 6 days following her first stay in the hospital. The reason I took her back was to determine whether or not she was still battling a UTI or if there was something else causing her ongoing fatigue.  Thankfully, the ER waiting room was pretty empty, which meant we could go back pretty quickly. After putting in an IV, they drew some labs and also did a chest x-ray and electrocardiogram (ECG) as her heart rate we really high.  An empty waiting room at the ER!  More Tests  They were also going to have to draw another urine sample with a catheter, which was causing Faith to be super anxious. This time, they gave her something to help decrease her anxiety, which made getting the sample much easier. After a while, the x-ray showed a possible pleural effusion.  The doctor recommended a CT scan to get a better look. Faith was becoming very anxious again and wanted to sit up in bed, so I ...

Faith was hospitalized twice in September. The first time revolved around getting a UTI that was resistant to the antibiotics she was taking. The second time was due to the fact that she had ongoing fatigue and the doctors wanted to make sure the initial UTI was gone and also figure out why she was still so fatigued.  Faith enjoying a beautiful September day Recurring UTIs Faith got her first urinary tract infection (UTI) in 2023. At the time, I would not have even known she had one, but she had a procedure done at the hospital and ended up getting really sick afterward. They tested for a UTI, and it came back positive. There were other things going on at the time, and she ended up in the hospital for 5 days.  She had a few recurring infections after that and her doctor at the time thought she might have a neurogenic bladder, which sometimes happens with those who have cerebral palsy. Her doctor suggested Faith see a pediatric urologist.  The urologist recommended urodyn...

September is  NICU Awareness Month . For those who don't know, NICU is an acronym for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. According to  World Metrics  50,000 premature babies in the United States receive care each year in the NICU.  The average NICU stay for a preemie is 25 days. Honestly, that number surprises me, as I thought it would be much higher than that. Along with preemies, full-term babies born with certain health issues, such as respiratory distress, jaundice, and other kinds of infections receive care in the NICU.  Tiny Faith in her isolette at Mayo  But for Faith, whose untimely birth consisted of an emergency C-section 11 weeks early, it took 73 days before she was discharged. Those 73 days were a major emotional rollercoaster! And for many reasons, one of which was being nearly 600 miles from home as Faith was born at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. (You can read what led up to that on my post,  October 4, 2003: A Day I'll Ne...

This page contains affiliate links and Faith's Mom may earn a commission if you use them. As an Amazon Associate, Faith's Mom earns from qualifying purchases.  Learn more.   Ever since Faith was born, she has struggled with her digestion. When she was in the NICU, she would spit up after eating even the tiniest amount of formula. Her dad and I were convinced her tummy was too small to handle large volumes of food. Sometimes when she ate, her heart rate would drop really low, which is why she needed to be in the NICU for longer. She just could not get the hang of eating and breathing at the same time!  Faith receiving food through an NG tube in the NICU.  Grandma giving Faith a bottle when she was 2 months old.  After finally bringing her home, eating continued to be an issue as she struggled with severe reflux and constipation. We tried various formulas, but she was never able to drink enough formula to gain a lot of weight. She also had trouble burping, and she...

February started out as it typically does: very cold! This year, my parents and sister braved the weather to have a small get together for my birthday. Faith thought I needed another party like I had last year, but I told her 51 just wasn't as exciting! She also asked if her Auntie Tesa was going to fly up again.  Faith really does love a good party!  Accurate!  Dawn, Faith, and Me Dad practicing holding his arm for after shoulder surgery The next day, my parents took me to IHOP , which had recently opened here in Bismarck, but I hadn't had a chance to go yet. It did not disappoint. My pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and coffee were all perfect!  I was glad to have gotten this meal in with my parents as two days later, my dad would be going through shoulder replacement surgery. We were all expecting him to be in and out on the same day, which is exactly what happened a couple of years ago when he had knee replacement surgery.  I, along with my siblings, was shocked t...

It's hard to believe that Faith is 19 years old and has never had a major illness or extended hospital stay since she was in the NICU. The only other time she had to stay in the hospital was when she had her g-tube placed when she was two years old. That is, until now. And to think it all started with her having a simple outpatient procedure that had nothing to do with the reason she was hospitalized.  Day 1: Thursday - the Procedure  Faith and I got up extremely early as she had to be at the clinic for her outpatient procedure. The procedure was a lumbar puncture in order to do a test dose of medication called baclofen, which would help reduce high muscle tone and spasticity. If the results were good, and it helped her muscles relax, we would have the option (in the future) of inserting a baclofen pump so that she could receive the medication continuously via a catheter in her spine.  I stressed the importance of giving her anti-nausea medication before the procedure be...