Aiden's Amazing Life: It's not IF, it's WHEN...

Expansion in a nutshell is unpredictable. There are so many things that could go right or wrong and for us parents going through this, it can be a very stressful time. For the most part, we adapt just fine though. There is just a constant reminder in the back of our minds that at anytime, things could rapidly change. I find myself saying "if" quite often throughout the expansion process. However, there is one thing that is pretty much a guarantee for Aiden. It's not a matter of if, it's a major matter of WHEN Aiden will become irritated by the stitches.

So, just after we did our fill last Sunday and just after I sent an email to Dr. Bauer saying how great everything looked, we woke up with stitch irritation on one of the incisions. Honestly, it wasn't horrible looking but it was very familiar and I knew that I had to send an email out immediately to help prevent this from getting any worse. I thought they would tell me to remove the stitches. Even though I'm not a fan of taking them out, I was prepared for that. I expected that. I wasn't prepared for what they told me instead. I was told that it was much too early to take them out this time and that due to our previous history, it was best to put him on Bactrim for the remainder of expansion. A instant knot formed in my stomach!

There are a few reasons why this completely sucks! 1. No one wants their kid on antibiotics for that long 2. The alternative of not doing it is worse 3. Aiden absolutely HATES taking medicine!!!! We struggled so much with medicine after surgery, that I knew this was going to be rough. I even asked the pharmacist if there was any other plausible form other than liquid we could use for this. I knew this was a long shot to ask but it was worth a try. Just like I thought, due to the specific amount Aiden needed, liquid was the only solution.

So, this week has been quite challenging for us. It has been frustrating, stressful and full of anxiety. We have tried countless scenarios to sneak this medicine in some way because it's not ideal to hold him down while he is screaming....twice a day for several weeks. Its not fun for him or us and not to mention that most of the medicine ends up on him, not in him. Yesterday, we finally reached some success where he got the full dose of medicine. Which was good because the incisions were starting to look a little more irritated than before. Now, we just hope that the routine will stick and that this will help us from any future problems.

Yesterday was also time for our next fill! Even though we battled lots of tears and struggles this week with Aiden, I can say that I am quite proud of him when it comes to doing these fills. Thank goodness for lidocaine cream because he understands that it doesn't hurt and that it won't take long. He even watched me insert both needles this time and said "I did it" once I was in! I can honestly say that I don't have a drop of anxiety to do these fills because he has been doing so well. Besides the incisions (mainly just the major one) looking irritated, the expanders are looking pretty good. The shoulder one is still slightly bruised but it hasn't gotten worse, so that is a good sign. I was able to put in 80cc into the back and we are now up to 285cc. The shoulder one took 25cc and we are now at 85cc. We are well on our way to making our goals for this expansion but I know better to get too excited about that because like I said before, expansion is unpredictable.

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