another round of asthma . . .

Well -- Tyler was home with us for exactly one week and doing very well.

Then Friday morning he woke up following a very quiet, peaceful night.

And BOOM! The asthma hit him like a rock.

We got him back to the hospital and onto the ventilator for a short time and the asthma seemed to quiet down a bit.

Now he's back on the mist/O2 collar with C.P.A.P. at nighttime.

We just need to figure out what is causing the asthma attacks or bronchospasms he is experiencing.

All medications have remained the same and our household is just as it has been for the past 20-years.

Hopefully we'll get this figured out soon.

Tyler is not a happy camper right now. He's cranky, irritable and just plain grumpy.

Wish us luck.

take a deep breath -- hold it -- now relax

OK -- I've taken a deep breath -- I've held it for the past two months waiting for Tyler to get better -- and now I can begin to relax.

I can honestly say that I feel like Tyler has made it over the hurdle placed in front of him and he is truly getting better and better with each day that passes.

Yesterday was his first day to realize that he DOESN'T want to stay in bed any longer than is required for sleeping.

He suddenly sat up all by himself, tried to climb out of bed and was insisting on getting into the hallway to play with his favorite toys.

It took a bit of coaxing to convince him that he still needed a bit of help.

By the end of the day he is back to crawling (almost) by himself, climbing (almost) into bed by himself and watching baseball on the couch with dad. He even took the last little sip of beer from dad's bottle. He didn't like it but it made both of them laugh.

Hmmm. The Diamondbacks won last night. Maybe they need Tyler to watch more of their games to send them some luck.

We've decreased the amount of oxygen that Tyler has needed to keep his O2 saturation up and he's sleeping much less. I think this last round of antibiotics is just what he needed to fight what he's been fighting.

It's nice to have him home. It's even nicer when he's being naughty, getting into trouble and telling me to 'get out' of his room.

a little bump in the road

Well -- Tyler has been making small improvements since coming home from the hospital last Friday.

However, this morning he awoke with a low-grade fever and kept telling me he was hot while holding on to his head.

Two hours later -- sure enough he began to have a foul-smelling discharge from his trach with thick secretions being coughed up.

I called the doctor right away who, in turn, called in an antibiotic for Tyler to get started on right away.

Hopefully we caught this early enough that he won't have to go back in the hospital.

Keep your fingers crossed.

The photo above was taken last October as Craig and Tyler were cleaning out the inside of a pumpkin. You can see that Tyler found this to be very amusing.

home watching baseball

Well -- Tyler is home and doing well.

He has a ways to go before he can get his strength and stamina back. He's currently sitting up in the office chair three or four times a day for about 30 minutes each time.

That doesn't sound like much progress but remember -- he's been lying in a hospital bed for over six weeks now and his strength is low.

Craig moved a T.V. set into Tylers room so they can watch baseball while recuperating from the asthma ordeal.

You can see that Tyler has lost a little bit of weight but he's happy being home with dad.

I'm happy that he's happy.

getting better each day

Well - what can I say?

Tyler continues to improve a little bit every day. His strength and stamina are slowly getting higher.

The one thing that hasn't faded is his smile and his jest for life.

Here is is lying in the hospital bed after Dad read him "The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy" and all he can do is smile.

Even with six EKG wires attached to his chest, a blood pressure cuff attached to his arm, an IV in his wrist and the CPAP machine attached to his trach -- he always has a smile for anyone who says 'hi.'

You gotta love this kid.

happy birthday Tyler

Another birthday for Tyler!

He's 24-years old now. Every day we've spent caring for him has been worth the little smile on his face.

Unfortunately he had to spend this birthday in the hospital.

However, in true Tyler fashion -- he had all the female nurses doting on him all day.

Just after lunch I brought in a yummy chocolate cake with whipped cream icing. The doctors, nurses and I sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he lit up like a Christmas Tree.

He kept pointing to himself just to let everyone know whose birthday we were celebrating.

Earlier in the day -- Craig and I started at the hospital to get his special day off to a good start.

This photo is of Tyler hamming it up for the camera. Of course his buddy - Wrinkles - had to be in the picture with him.

small gains

First of all I need to apologize for not posting for a few days. The computer at my house hasn't been able to receive a signal from Cox Communications.

Tyler was home for a day -- experienced another severe asthma attack and had to come back to the hospital.

Between the doctors, nurses, respiratory staff and Craig and I -- we're racking our brains trying to figure out if something in our home is triggering the asthma.

Well -- apparently not. Last night while Craig was at the hospital with Tyler -- he suddenly experienced another asthma attack. Staff members quickly put him back on C.P.A.P. and he came out of it quickly.

That shoots down the 'environmental' issue. The doctors were actually thinking Tyler could be allergic to my kitties and they would have to go away. :(

Well since there aren't any kitties in the hospital -- Allie and Bernie will live to see another day in the Bell house.

Now we're talking about a home-ventilator program to assist him as needed. If he needs C.P.A.P. at nighttime -- he'll get it. If not, he'll stay on the mist collar.

Either way he'll be home with us were he belongs.

The photo shown above was taken during a 'play' session between Christi and Tyler. Christi would often times dress Tyler up in girl clothes. Obviously Tyler didn't give a rip. As long as someone loves him -- he's a happy boy.