Medicating My Child

Earlier this month, I posted my Medication Woes. Well, now that we have transitioned to our new pharmacy, I think things will be easier. I love our new pharmacy. For one, they are ONLY a pharmacy and not one of these chain drug stores. So what does this mean? They actually have precise dose syringes! These are the same ones the hospitals use.

When, Princess was first put on medication and we left the hospital, they sent me home with two of these one milliliter syringes. Well, they only last so long before all the markings start wearing off. When I had picked up her medication for the first time, the pharmacist at the drug store only had a 5ml syringe and that wasn't going to be accurate enough for dosing Princess. At one point, (ex)-Hubby brought home these 1ml syringes from the drug store he works for. I hated them. They felt like they had no pressure to them, so I couldn't tell if I was drawing anything into it. So I got some 1ml syringes from Dr. K's office. The only problem with them is that they weren't "for oral use." I worked with what I had.

When Princess was placed on the diuretic for her PHA2, we had to change pharmacies to the same store that (ex)-Hubby works for. I had to renew her prescription every 14 days because it had to compounded and it would fall out of suspension. The last time I filled it there, they put one of these little toppers in it that is made for hospital-grade syringes. The only syringe I had that fit it was either the last one I had left over from the hospital or a 3ml syringe that wouldn't have given me an accurate dosage that the pharmacy had given me.

Before the next refill, we moved up to my mom's and I had to find a compounding pharmacy. The one recommended to me was a pharmacy that was ONLY a pharmacy. Like the previous pharmacy, they put one of those little toppers in, but they had 1ml syringes!

I love our new pharmacy. I don't have to refill the diuretic every 14 days. It's been 3 weeks already and we're still going strong! I hope things get worked out with the doctor's office so that when it gets called in, it's there and I don't have to call around to make sure it's taken care of.

Shut-In Saturday Week 1: Haircuts

This is my first series! I figured since Princess is shut-in for the next several months due to RSV season (read more about RSV here), I would do a weekly round-up of photos of Princess and anything else exciting that happens during the week. So these posts will hopefully be picture heavy!

Princess may be shut-in, but the rest of us aren't. As long as someone is watching Princess, things can get done, like going to the store or getting haircuts! Today we went and got Little Man's hair cut. He SO needed it! After we were done, I took him to the playground in the mall so he could play while we waited on MeMe to get her hair cut.

Princess has been playing with toys. She all of a sudden became interested in them! So she's been trying to get her ball into her mouth. It doesn't quite work for her.

She also loves the caterpillar in her bed. There are some nights that when I put her to bed, I hear her playing with it forever before she falls asleep!

She's been doing really well on her tummy time too! She's doing "baby push ups" now and picking her head and chest up off the floor. Before long she's going to be crawling all over the place!

The mornings here have been cold. It's finally fall! So I've been putting socks on her. They don't last long.

This is her official Shut-In Saturday photo for the day: offering all those who love her a hug!

Come back next Saturday for our next Shut-In Saturday photo round-up!

Medication woes

Sometimes I feel like all I do is call doctor's offices.  And lately it's been about Princess's medication. She's on two of them currently. One is just a beta-blocker for her high blood pressure. The other is a diuretic that will help with the high potassium AND the high blood pressure. Our current plan of attack is to let her outgrow the current dosage of the beta-blocker and then keep her just on the diuretic. Okay, no big deal, right? Well, it just seems like every time I need a refill I end up call the doc's office.

The past two refills for the diuretic have required me to call the doc's office at least once. It seems that it never gets to the pharmacy's computer. Then there's the beta-blocker. I don't have anymore refills on it and am literally almost out. So I took it in to the pharmacy because I wanted to transfer it anyway if we were going to stay on it. They e-faxed on Tuesday. They then resent the e-fax today. I spoke to the gals there and they said I should call the doc's office. So I did. They said they hadn't received anything! But they were going to send it to the pharmacy.

I don't get it. Why is it not getting to the pharmacy or vice versa? Is this the world conspiring against me? Or maybe just everyone's programs aren't compatible with everyone else's? I know, depending on who I asked right now, someone would probably try to blame Obama-Care. I don't really care what the problem is, I just want it fixed so that I don't have to go through this EVERY time I need a prescription refilled.

RSV Season

I never thought three little letters would strike fear into my heart, but they do: RSV. Never heard of it? I hadn't either until Princess was born premature. Now it's all that I worry about. Here's what the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says about it:

Respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus, or RSV, is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. Most otherwise healthy people recover from RSV infection in 1 to 2 weeks. However, infection can be severe in some people, such as certain infants, young children, and older adults. In fact, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age in the United States. In addition, RSV is more often being recognized as an important cause of respiratory illness in older adults. More on RSV from the CDC

RSV is easily transmitted. It's found in what we healthy people would get in the common cold. And we all know how easily it is to catch the common cold! It can be fatal to infants or others with compromised immune systems or respiratory disorders.

So what can we do about it?

1. Princess qualifies for the Synagis series. It DOES NOT prevent RSV. It only helps lessen the severity of it IF she gets it. It doesn't treat or cure RSV. I am working on getting this series for her through her pediatrician or her cardiologist. I'm not sure who yet.

2. Princess will be under house arrest come October 1. So essentially, she won't be going out and about. Sure, we'll still go to the grandparents' houses assuming they're all well, but no church, no stores, no large crowds for her. Sadly, this means that myself and Little Man will be staying inside as well when it is just us. We'll still go to all of Princess's doctor's appointments, but that's about it.

3. Hand washing is a MUST! It's the simplest thing, but also the most crucial. I already feel like wash my hands a dozen times a day, but it will be about a dozen times more once October gets here.

Some of you may have seen this picture already of the soap that I stocked up on at Target.

Well, here's the stockpile for RSV season:

All the sinks in my house already have soap and sanitizer by them. They also have Clorox wipes underneath them. One other thing they're all getting is a box of those Kleenex hand towels. It makes SO much sense because your hands are only as clean as the towel you just dried them on. So why not use a fresh towel every time you wash your hands?

Beneath that is also the stockpile of Kleenex tissues that you can't see. Hopefully it will still be there come spring.*

*This entry was written BEFORE the chaos that is presently going on.

State Aid

Today is October 1. That means that is the first day of Princess's house arrest. So far so good. I have had to go to the pharmacy to transfer a prescription that I'm not sure if we're going to continue with for her, but I just hung WAY back from all the people at the front of the line. Thankfully we are now going to a small local pharmacy so I'm not too worried about wandering through a bunch of sick people to get to where I need to.

Today I also did my phone interview for food stamps (Cal-Fresh). I asked about my medi-cal and about welfare (Cal-Works). Unfortunately I couldn't do the Cal-Works over the phone. I have to go into the office to do it. The reason I am looking at welfare is because of Child Support. Since (ex)-Hubby filed for divorce, there's going to be child support involved. Well, since Princess and Little Man get medi-cal, I won't see a dime of the child support because it will go to paying off their medi-cal bills. So the only way I can get money is to go through with Cal-Works. At least it looks like I won't have to do all the stupid job searching and class stuff because I have kids under 6. I mean, I can go and start subbing next week if I could, but being Princess can't be in day care and needs a qualified sitter, it makes it difficult.

What's surprising is that I have my face-to-face for Cal-Works tomorrow! I guess things are slow here, but tomorrow after lunch I get gather all these documents that I didn't even know I needed and bring them with me. I seriously had to ask them what documents they needed because I didn't have anything from them saying what they needed. Hopefully things will be taken care of just as quickly as they are getting me appointments.