The Stinky Stinker

Brayden stinks.  In just about every way someone could stink (well, actually more than most).

• Stool/mucus/who-knows-what is still coming out of his bottom.  Several times a day.  Sometimes it is a little and sometimes it is a lot.  Whatever it is or size it is, it smells...really, really smells and we have a very high tolerance for smells in our house.
• Brayden's ileostomy see

  ms to be doing ok, but because of every thing else going on we have to be a bit more specific with measuring the amount of stool coming out of his ileostomy. Nothing like measuring stool.
• Urine output is fine, actually rather productive.  We have been trying to compensate for things coming out of him everywhere else and giving him more water so that he would not become dehydrated.
• Vomit, yes there has been vomit.  While there is nothing for him to actually vomit since nothing goes into his stomach, he has been retching and vomiting.  Is that because he is sick, GI troubles, fever/seizures, etc.?
• A fever. A fever that I thought was gone.  He had a great Sunday and Monday, no sign of fever.  In fact Carter, Luke and I took him to the movies.  He absolutely loved the movie, sat in his wheelchair most of the time and then in my lap.  So proud of him. I don't think he has ever lasted through an entire movie.  Even Carter and Luke know to plan an exit strategy when Brayden acts up too much.  But then on Tuesday the fever started creeping back.  And hit 102.3, of course in the middle of the night.  I was up with him, monitoring the fever, seizures and retching.  It was not pretty.

I have been emailing the doctors updates and lots of pictures of Brayden's diaper goodies.  The doctors have been emailing back and forth...seeming to take a scratching-their-head-method.  Brayden had repeat labs done last Friday, everything seems ok.  Some labs show inflammation but no infection or imbalance.

Whatever is happening, it is going on 3 weeks of it.  One doctor (whom we adore and cannot parent Brayden without her) called in metronidazole (flagyl), to treat an possible infection in the colon.  We shall see if that works, we picked up the med tonight.

And for a little poo humor, Brayden's nurse carried him over to the shower from his bed tonight.  While traveling that short distance, Brayden's bum felt the need to shoot out stool/mucus/who-knows-what.  Left a trail on the floor, rug...and the nurse. Again, not a large amount but the smell, oh the smell.  Now the house smells like bleach.

Pray for our big stinker.  One moment he seems fine and the next he is miserable.