Unfortunately it's pneumonia

Tommy has every right to be cranky lately. We took him in to the doctor this afternoon and he feels the chest xray shows mild pneumonia. Heavy sigh. Tommy is sick.


The new gameplan is:

1. Ceftin (antibiotic) 2 times a day. Ceftin is used to treat many kinds of bacterial infections, including severe or life-threatening forms.

2. Nebulizer treatments 4 times daily with albuterol, which is a bronchodilator that relaxes muscles in the airways and increases air flow to the lungs.

3. Pulmicort 2 times a day in his nebulizer. This is an important piece to getting him better. And this is a permanent addition to our daily life. The doctor feels that Tommy's lungs are compromised and need Pulmicort now daily. Pulmicort works by decreasing irritation and swelling in the airways, which helps to control or prevent some of his symptoms.

4. Decadron which is a single dose of a steroid to reduce inflamation.

5. Ibuprofen every 6 hours to control his temp

6. Call Children's Hospital in the morning to ask cardiology if they want to review the chest xray as there may be shunt vascularity and congested vessels. Which may mean that our Oct 7 scheduled echo gets bumped up.

7. Lots of cuddles!

6. Call Children's Hospital first thing in the morning and have them review this chest xray, it might show signs that his blood vessels have congestion and there is shunt vascularity.