Still in Pain

Doctors increased the steroids yesterday from 3mg per day to 12mg per day because even the pain medicine wasn't decreasing Caleb's headaches at all. However, he's having some adverse reactions to the increase. Today, his breathing & heart rate have been erratic all day. Doctors did a chest x-ray to make sure his heart & lungs were still working properly. All showed clear except for the excess fluid building up everywhere. My sweet boy is still in so much pain right now. Every part of his body hurts right now and he's so swollen he can't even cross his little fingers. He hurts to walk. He hurts lying down. He hurts to be touched. We added a foam mattress topper to his bed to help with the pain a little. We've increased his pain medication so that he takes it every 4 hours if awake. If he's asleep, we let him sleep & give it as soon as he wakes up.

Docs have decided that he isn't handling the increase in steroids well & decreased it to 8mg per day. His surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. CST on Tuesday morning.  It is supposed to last at least 2 hours.

He's resting for the moment, and has said that the bed does feel a little better now. I'm still concerned about his heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration -- all of which are high right now.

I know that the surgery is very risky, but I will be so glad when it is over and Caleb (hopefully) finally has some relief from the pain. It's so difficult seeing him in so much pain and knowing that I can't do anything to make it better. I'd gladly take his pain if it would make him feel better.

Please continue to pray for us. We need strength, peace, relief from pain & quality sleep most of all.

Thanks!

Caleb and his friend, Stacy, enjoying popsicles.