Saturday, March 14, 2009

The upside of pneumonia


In the end of February, Oskie was admitted in to the hospital for pneumonia. he tested positive for a virus. They kept telling me he had something that sounded like "Human metamucil virus". I didn't care, all i knew was that he was having a very hard time breathing and he looked so pale it was scary and he slept for 16 hours straight. We were in the hospital for 6 nights. So this all sounds awful, but here is the upside. The doctors put him on steroids to reduce inflammation in his lungs, and it stopped his seizures. Oskie has had between 50-150 seizures a day for the last two years. I kept telling all the nurses and doctors and they were non-plussed. I finally asked for a neurology consult and now we are trying this thing called steroid pulse therapy. Steroids are very bad for you, but if you can get your dose down low and only have to give them every few days, you can stay on them for 1-3 years without significant side effects. So Osk had been seizure free since march 1st. He is laughing and smiling like never before and I am so hopeful! Hooray for pneumonia!!!!

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