Staph, doggone it

Well, for the first time since she was trached, Gracie has a staph infection. This is not good... but not "hospital worthy" at this point, and that is a very good thing.

Her rash hasn't subsided, so we are keeping a close eye on it. Luckily, everyone is quite confident at this point that it's not a result of the staph infection, for if it were, she would (should) be much sicker than she is.

Last night was ROUGH. She was up all night. At one point, her suctioning requirements were nearly continuous and so I just put the machine next to us on her bed and kept it on, reaching over every 60 seconds or so and swiping out her trach. She couldn't relax because of that (obviously) and because the Benadryl has stopped helping the itch. Our nearly 90 degree heat isn't helping, either. (To you "wintry" sisters/friends out there... sorry, I don't mean to rub in our heat wave. If it's any consolation, I am not enjoying this one!)

Despite being up all night, she managed to rally for a bit today and that made Mommy very happy! She asked to "sing" (sign) her songs, she asked to sit in her KidKart, she wanted to stand at the bar... so many things she does on a regular day. She wore herself out, though and is now absolutely zonked - - as is Preston. And, thus, in just a moment, I plan on taking a little rest myself!

This little "situation" has also reminded us how incredibly lucky we are to have such good private insurance on top of the Medi-Cal for which Gracie qualifies. If she had straight Medi-Cal, she'd be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics, as that insurance doesn't cover the expensive prescription she will now need. Interestingly enough, the med is $500 retail... MUCH LESS than three days in the hospital... someone please explain the state's "bean counter" logic on that one.