In true spring fashion, Judith had (more like has, because she's still not over it) a nasty cold for this clinic visit. Naturally, I was sick as well, although I was way over the hump and not contagious at that point, even though my voice still sounds horrible. In some respects, I hate taking her to clinic when she's sick with a respiratory bug, because that only means the potential for extra germs to end up on surfaces, but at the same time it works out well because they can hear what she sounds like in person, and tailor her treatment plan accordingly.
If you've been keeping track, this is respiratory infection #4 for her over the last 6 or so months. This is also exacerbation #3, with the 3rd round of steroids. And we learned something new: steroids make my child go absolutely bat crap crazy. The behaviors that accompany her ADHD are exacerbated by the steroids, and she literally becomes a wild woman. I told Dr. G. that we absolutely will NOT use that particular steroid again unless it's a dire situation or the absolute last thing available. He did say that there are some other brands we could try and see how she reacts, but it could be the steroids in general that cause this. I have to say that her behavior this time was especially difficult, because I was trying to fight off bronchitis at the same time, and John's schedule was also insane so most nights of the week I had to fly solo. It was the perfect storm of events, and it was especially trying. Nevertheless, her behavior was that out of control within 15-30 minutes of taking her steroid dose that I don't think it would have been any less exasperating had I been feeling well.
Judith got to try something new at clinic this time! Our clinic has patients start blowing PFTs at age 5, and starts practicing around age 4.5. Judith's not quite 4.5, but when the nurses asked about her age, I pushed a bit and requested starting practice now, because if we can get her started and into the routine earlier, she may not be as nervous or scared about the process and will likely be more willing to cooperate. So the RT came in with a party blower, and we practiced with that for a few minutes! I'm going to be making a trip to the dollar store to get a pack so we can practice at home, and at her next visit she'll get to try it out with the machine.
Judith grew again, and is now 40.25" tall! I knew she was growing again, because all of her 3T pants, while still a perfect fit in the waist, are too short and make her look like she's wading through shallow water. The size 4T/4 pants I have are still slightly long, but are definitely fitting better than the older stuff. Weight gain was not impressive at all, because she barely gained anything since her last appointment. On Monday, she weighed in at 39 lbs 9 oz. So that's an increase of just a few ounces. We're waiting it out to see if she can gain more weight by her next visit, particularly since she's been sick and had back to back infections.
Everything else seemed ok. There is some mucus in her lungs, but she has been showing signs of clearing it out via treatments, and Dr. G. didn't say that he heard anything extra concerning. We're waiting for the results from her cultures, and are hoping that nothing new cropped up that could be causing her wet cough (in other words, we're hoping that it's just the respiratory virus and not something like pseudomonas).
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