How long to baseline?

[Aboveallislove]

Under "normal" circumstances, how long does it take to return to "baseline" for a kiddo with a cold and doctor hearing something in one lung lobe? DS started antibiotics 2 days ago for 21 day course. Pretty sure he caught my cold which I caught from DH. DH was bac\k to his normal in days. I'm on day 12 with a nasty cough still and heading to doctor on Tuesday. If things work as they should does he usually hit baseline (no cough
, same exercise tolerance
, same FEV) at end of antibiotics? Before? months later? Just wanting to \know what to expect in normal cases and when to follow-up with doctor that something more is going on. Much appreciated. Love

 

[Gammaw]

That's a hard one AboveAll. It depends a lot on the kiddo and a host of factors. My rule of thumb requires no cough for 5 to 7 days while ON antibiotics before I stop calling the doc. So if he's still coughing even a little when antibiotics end, then I figure we haven't got it yet and I call. At the other end of the spectrum I don't expect stamina to reach his peak for weeks after that. My guys one mile run time is 2 min behind at post 1 week even tho he doesn't feel winded. I don't have anything to actually monitor Fev1 at home, so I don't really know where he's at. So.... my question to you would be whether you see improvement on the antibiotics about a week or so into it.

 

[Rebjane]

It is individual. I do echo; the cough petering out before antibiotics are done. If cough goes away and antibiotics are done, daughter usually feels better off anti's after 3 days...Being on antibiotics is exhausting in itself. I encourage lots of rest; may have to cancel extra after school activities. lots of fluids. Healthy foods. Yogurt; probiotics.

We are in the same boat right now, day 18 of 21 day course of anti's daughter gets hit with another respiratory virus;lots of coughing; now on a steroid burst and still waiting to hear about extending her anti's for one more week....And her doc is on vacation so response time is long and I am not sure the covering doc is comfortable making a decision...

 

[Aboveallislove]

Thanks both. This is our first lung involvement
, so while I'm a pro at the GI sh!t literally as DS would say I'm at a lose on the cough stuff. He is definitely SO much better than Saturday when we were packing for the hospital and things turned around, but still nasty cough. What I don't really get is how the antibiotics play in for a viral cold which I'm pretty sure it is given I'm 99.9% sure he got mine and DH and ours is seemingly viral. Does the staph just get into the extra mucus the body produced to fight the viral cold?

 

[Aboveallislove]

PS Rebjane so sorry daughter got hit back to back
, double wammy PLUS not having her doctor to run things by just adds to stress. Hugs and prayers for her. And sounds li\ke Gammaw's guy too just got off one. Augh. Ditto to you. Than\ks again both.

 

[Rebjane]

Above, when my daughter was having GI issues a couple years ago I said the same thing except in reverse. I was so used to respiratory stuff and what to do but did not have a good plan about GI. Some is trial and error, unfortunately.

 

[Rebjane]

Sometimes, when one with CF gets a cold or virus it gives it a medium for those bacteria to grow; like a petri dish. So yes if you have a staph bacteria and you get a cold you may need antibiotics for that to treat the bacteria.

I did convince the covering doc to give my daughter one more week of anti's( she very much disagreed with me).. Course she also told me she thought what my daughter had was viral and she did not need a sputum culture, though I got one anyway by a different doc. She just looked up the results and my daughter's preliminary results are growing something(gram negative) . Will have to wait a few more days to see what that means but hoping it is not PA which is not a usual bug of hers.....

 

[Aboveallislove]

augh. I'll say some prayers it isn't. big hugs
,
,Love

 

[Aboveallislove]

Can you all share what's a "normal" CF cough when sick with a nasty chest cold? How often? What intensity? I was/am still hacking (obviously away from him) but of course when he coughs it sounds more and worse and just wonder if that's the "normal" for a sick CFer? He went last night without coughing which is a big improvement but his treatments just are torture,
especially hyper sal that he use to tolerate like nothing and now I just try to get in 5 minutes if I can before he coughs too much.

 

[Gammaw]

My guy has had every kind of cough at one time or another. It may be mild, infrequent and dry or horrid, wet, and frequent and everything in between. This last cough (sinus infection) was so deep and chesty that it would stop everyone dead in their tracks to stop and look, waiting for him to keel over. You'll come to tell the difference in your own child's cough. The main questions are whether it is dry or wet sounding, how frequent it is, whether he's coughing in the night, whether it wakes him, and whether he's coughing anything up and what color it is. Beyond those factors I wouldn't spend too much time trying to distinguish. Personally, I would ask how important it is for him to continue hypersal right now since it's obviously an irritant. Here's praying for Bobby.
Bkessings

 

[Rebjane]

The figuring out the cough thing can be hard. Does your son use a bronchodilator before the Hypersal? That can help with the cough induced by the hypersal. I also have my daugher drink fluids after her hypersal; it seems to make her thirsty.

My daughter's cough tends to be dry and fairly non productive. She has so much inflammatory issues so I think this is why.

This time with the cough she has currently; it's wet and somewhat productive(though she swallows it) which leads me to think something else is brewing, a different bacteria or viral issue...

My daughter's cough always sounds loud. It sometimes startles me...

To get through neb treatments; my daughter also sometimes sucks on a peppermint candy.

 

[Aboveallislove]

thanks. we do xopenex before hyper-sal and we are only doing a tad now. I have a call into center where to plug through or move to 3%. He does have productive coughs and sometimes stuff comes up but clear. other times it seems his asthama irritated cough. He is continuing to improve and no longer coughing between treatments much
,so on right track. But boy does this suck. Been blessed not to have this side of things yet...GI was more than enough. Thanks for input. and prayers.,

 

[Aboveallislove]

Augh. Doctor wanted admitted for iv antibiotics after tad of blood in mucus. Nasal swab shows RSV. Waiting on cultures.

 

[Rebjane]

How is your little guy feeling? How is his cough? Hoping the IV's kick butt.

 

[Ratatosk]

Augh. Doctor wanted admitted for iv antibiotics after tad of blood in mucus. Nasal swab shows RSV. Waiting on cultures.

Ugh, I thought after they got older, one didn't have to worry so much about RSV! I was so terrified of it when DS was an infant and in daycare despite monthly synagis shots. I still remember the doctor telling us to beat that cough/wheeze out of ds. Hopefully they'll get him figured out and he'll feel better soon!

 

[Aboveallislove]

Thanks for the notes. So DS is hanging in there. Cough improving and lung sounds. Xray was pretty clear to start so ended up being good decision to nip in the bud so it didn't get horrible. PICC line Monday or Tuesday and home if his FEV improves. He was down to 50% but they hit with steroid (Prenosid? and he seems to improve. Happy Easter all.

 

[Rebjane]

I was wondering if a steroid would be in order. Prednisone really seems to help tamp the inflammation and open up the airway and let the stuff come up. It does tend to make my daughter emotional( typically she gets a 5 day burst) . We are also careful with her diet while on prednisone; avoid sugar, candy and simple carbs. Prednisone makes her blood sugar go up..We focus on protein and fats which stabilize blood sugar. Thinking of you!

 

[Aboveallislove]

Than\k you so much. DS doesn't li\ke sweets so that's good. And also helpful to \know b/c his blood sugar was up. And he is a emotional burst!!! So another good thing to \know. Than\ks for all the input.

 

[ToriMom]

I am sorry to hear your son is not well. Is this his first PICC? Remind me how old he is...also, do you know how they will place it...conscious or unconscious sedation?
I just want to send healing thoughts your way. It's hard to have the kids sick over the holidays. I can't believe Easter is tomorrow because I have been sort of immersed in her care this week. Let me know if you have any PICC concerns because we have been through a bunch of those.
Hugs
Michelle

 

[Aboveallislove]

thanks Michelle. DS turns in June. While he's had bad GI stuff we've been blessed lung wise and this is actually his very first cold!! So ditto on Picc line. he will be sedated and they've wal\ked us through it all. just nervous but \know he needs. His lung function is down to 60%from over 100%. Damn RSV.