What do docs consider when admitting for iv antibiotics?

[angelsmom]

My 6-year old was admitted for the first time two weeks ago and we are finishing up iv antibiotics at home. I have many questions!!

Has your child ever been admitted at a time when they did not appear to be having any problems?

We were very surprised at the doctor's recommendation to admit her. At the time, she showed no signs of breathing difficulty yet her PFT results at this regular 3-month clinic visit showed a 20% decline in her lung function since our prior clinic visit in January. Her FEV was 78. Our first reaction was, did she do the test right? They had her repeat it after using albuterol and there wasn't much difference. Two days prior to this, she was outside running around all day on Easter Sunday showing no signs of any problem. She attended a birthday party shortly before this and I watched her repeatedly inhale deeply and blow out big huge breaths to help blow up balloons. She can blow up a balloon faster than I can! But, her doctor said the numbers don't lie and expressed that she was very concerned and we had to admit her immediately.

Do you ever question whether your young child is doing the PFT accurately? What explanation is given to you if you do?

My daughter's "baseline" is "no cough." Prior to her admission, she was coughing in the morning when she woke up and usually at night before bed. My understanding is this, along with the low PFT caused her doctor to admit her. In addition, she had been on a course of oral Bactrim back in late January and her doctor felt that Bactrim had not done the trick that time, so we needed to step up to iv antibiotics.

While in the hospital, my daughter never coughed . . not in the morning, not at night . . .like at home. So it makes me wonder if she has allergies to something in our home or seasonal allergies since it is getting to be that time of year. We have always suspected she has allergies but never had her tested. Couldn't allergies have caused the low PFT? Once in the confines of a hospital room, away from the allergens in our home or outside, she didn't cough. Since we have been home and she has returned to school and been playing outside, she has sneezed and has had a slight runny nose. I haven't noticed any coughing though.

I should also mention that we are fairly new to this doctor and clinic. We treated at a different clinic in our area from the time of diagnosis until the middle of last year when our doc left to go elsewhere. We switched to our current doc and clinic in October 2009. The clinic visit two weeks ago was only the third time we have seen this doctor. So I guess I haven't quite established a comfort level with her yet. We loved our prior doc and had we been seeing her and she suggested the admission, I probably wouldn't be questioning it so much because that doc knew my daughter's history much better - a quite unremarkable history, in fact!

My other question is about the meds given - Gentamycin and Ceftazidime. I was not familiar with these but have since learned that Gentamycin can cause hearing loss. Are these typical meds to be used on a 6-year old's first admission?

Thank you in advance for any insight offered!!

 

[angelsmom]

My 6-year old was admitted for the first time two weeks ago and we are finishing up iv antibiotics at home. I have many questions!!

Has your child ever been admitted at a time when they did not appear to be having any problems?

We were very surprised at the doctor's recommendation to admit her. At the time, she showed no signs of breathing difficulty yet her PFT results at this regular 3-month clinic visit showed a 20% decline in her lung function since our prior clinic visit in January. Her FEV was 78. Our first reaction was, did she do the test right? They had her repeat it after using albuterol and there wasn't much difference. Two days prior to this, she was outside running around all day on Easter Sunday showing no signs of any problem. She attended a birthday party shortly before this and I watched her repeatedly inhale deeply and blow out big huge breaths to help blow up balloons. She can blow up a balloon faster than I can! But, her doctor said the numbers don't lie and expressed that she was very concerned and we had to admit her immediately.

Do you ever question whether your young child is doing the PFT accurately? What explanation is given to you if you do?

My daughter's "baseline" is "no cough." Prior to her admission, she was coughing in the morning when she woke up and usually at night before bed. My understanding is this, along with the low PFT caused her doctor to admit her. In addition, she had been on a course of oral Bactrim back in late January and her doctor felt that Bactrim had not done the trick that time, so we needed to step up to iv antibiotics.

While in the hospital, my daughter never coughed . . not in the morning, not at night . . .like at home. So it makes me wonder if she has allergies to something in our home or seasonal allergies since it is getting to be that time of year. We have always suspected she has allergies but never had her tested. Couldn't allergies have caused the low PFT? Once in the confines of a hospital room, away from the allergens in our home or outside, she didn't cough. Since we have been home and she has returned to school and been playing outside, she has sneezed and has had a slight runny nose. I haven't noticed any coughing though.

I should also mention that we are fairly new to this doctor and clinic. We treated at a different clinic in our area from the time of diagnosis until the middle of last year when our doc left to go elsewhere. We switched to our current doc and clinic in October 2009. The clinic visit two weeks ago was only the third time we have seen this doctor. So I guess I haven't quite established a comfort level with her yet. We loved our prior doc and had we been seeing her and she suggested the admission, I probably wouldn't be questioning it so much because that doc knew my daughter's history much better - a quite unremarkable history, in fact!

My other question is about the meds given - Gentamycin and Ceftazidime. I was not familiar with these but have since learned that Gentamycin can cause hearing loss. Are these typical meds to be used on a 6-year old's first admission?

Thank you in advance for any insight offered!!

 

[angelsmom]

My 6-year old was admitted for the first time two weeks ago and we are finishing up iv antibiotics at home. I have many questions!!

Has your child ever been admitted at a time when they did not appear to be having any problems?

We were very surprised at the doctor's recommendation to admit her. At the time, she showed no signs of breathing difficulty yet her PFT results at this regular 3-month clinic visit showed a 20% decline in her lung function since our prior clinic visit in January. Her FEV was 78. Our first reaction was, did she do the test right? They had her repeat it after using albuterol and there wasn't much difference. Two days prior to this, she was outside running around all day on Easter Sunday showing no signs of any problem. She attended a birthday party shortly before this and I watched her repeatedly inhale deeply and blow out big huge breaths to help blow up balloons. She can blow up a balloon faster than I can! But, her doctor said the numbers don't lie and expressed that she was very concerned and we had to admit her immediately.

Do you ever question whether your young child is doing the PFT accurately? What explanation is given to you if you do?

My daughter's "baseline" is "no cough." Prior to her admission, she was coughing in the morning when she woke up and usually at night before bed. My understanding is this, along with the low PFT caused her doctor to admit her. In addition, she had been on a course of oral Bactrim back in late January and her doctor felt that Bactrim had not done the trick that time, so we needed to step up to iv antibiotics.

While in the hospital, my daughter never coughed . . not in the morning, not at night . . .like at home. So it makes me wonder if she has allergies to something in our home or seasonal allergies since it is getting to be that time of year. We have always suspected she has allergies but never had her tested. Couldn't allergies have caused the low PFT? Once in the confines of a hospital room, away from the allergens in our home or outside, she didn't cough. Since we have been home and she has returned to school and been playing outside, she has sneezed and has had a slight runny nose. I haven't noticed any coughing though.

I should also mention that we are fairly new to this doctor and clinic. We treated at a different clinic in our area from the time of diagnosis until the middle of last year when our doc left to go elsewhere. We switched to our current doc and clinic in October 2009. The clinic visit two weeks ago was only the third time we have seen this doctor. So I guess I haven't quite established a comfort level with her yet. We loved our prior doc and had we been seeing her and she suggested the admission, I probably wouldn't be questioning it so much because that doc knew my daughter's history much better - a quite unremarkable history, in fact!

My other question is about the meds given - Gentamycin and Ceftazidime. I was not familiar with these but have since learned that Gentamycin can cause hearing loss. Are these typical meds to be used on a 6-year old's first admission?

Thank you in advance for any insight offered!!

 

[angelsmom]

My 6-year old was admitted for the first time two weeks ago and we are finishing up iv antibiotics at home. I have many questions!!

Has your child ever been admitted at a time when they did not appear to be having any problems?

We were very surprised at the doctor's recommendation to admit her. At the time, she showed no signs of breathing difficulty yet her PFT results at this regular 3-month clinic visit showed a 20% decline in her lung function since our prior clinic visit in January. Her FEV was 78. Our first reaction was, did she do the test right? They had her repeat it after using albuterol and there wasn't much difference. Two days prior to this, she was outside running around all day on Easter Sunday showing no signs of any problem. She attended a birthday party shortly before this and I watched her repeatedly inhale deeply and blow out big huge breaths to help blow up balloons. She can blow up a balloon faster than I can! But, her doctor said the numbers don't lie and expressed that she was very concerned and we had to admit her immediately.

Do you ever question whether your young child is doing the PFT accurately? What explanation is given to you if you do?

My daughter's "baseline" is "no cough." Prior to her admission, she was coughing in the morning when she woke up and usually at night before bed. My understanding is this, along with the low PFT caused her doctor to admit her. In addition, she had been on a course of oral Bactrim back in late January and her doctor felt that Bactrim had not done the trick that time, so we needed to step up to iv antibiotics.

While in the hospital, my daughter never coughed . . not in the morning, not at night . . .like at home. So it makes me wonder if she has allergies to something in our home or seasonal allergies since it is getting to be that time of year. We have always suspected she has allergies but never had her tested. Couldn't allergies have caused the low PFT? Once in the confines of a hospital room, away from the allergens in our home or outside, she didn't cough. Since we have been home and she has returned to school and been playing outside, she has sneezed and has had a slight runny nose. I haven't noticed any coughing though.

I should also mention that we are fairly new to this doctor and clinic. We treated at a different clinic in our area from the time of diagnosis until the middle of last year when our doc left to go elsewhere. We switched to our current doc and clinic in October 2009. The clinic visit two weeks ago was only the third time we have seen this doctor. So I guess I haven't quite established a comfort level with her yet. We loved our prior doc and had we been seeing her and she suggested the admission, I probably wouldn't be questioning it so much because that doc knew my daughter's history much better - a quite unremarkable history, in fact!

My other question is about the meds given - Gentamycin and Ceftazidime. I was not familiar with these but have since learned that Gentamycin can cause hearing loss. Are these typical meds to be used on a 6-year old's first admission?

Thank you in advance for any insight offered!!

 

[angelsmom]

My 6-year old was admitted for the first time two weeks ago and we are finishing up iv antibiotics at home. I have many questions!!
<br />
<br />Has your child ever been admitted at a time when they did not appear to be having any problems?
<br />
<br />We were very surprised at the doctor's recommendation to admit her. At the time, she showed no signs of breathing difficulty yet her PFT results at this regular 3-month clinic visit showed a 20% decline in her lung function since our prior clinic visit in January. Her FEV was 78. Our first reaction was, did she do the test right? They had her repeat it after using albuterol and there wasn't much difference. Two days prior to this, she was outside running around all day on Easter Sunday showing no signs of any problem. She attended a birthday party shortly before this and I watched her repeatedly inhale deeply and blow out big huge breaths to help blow up balloons. She can blow up a balloon faster than I can! But, her doctor said the numbers don't lie and expressed that she was very concerned and we had to admit her immediately.
<br />
<br />Do you ever question whether your young child is doing the PFT accurately? What explanation is given to you if you do?
<br />
<br />My daughter's "baseline" is "no cough." Prior to her admission, she was coughing in the morning when she woke up and usually at night before bed. My understanding is this, along with the low PFT caused her doctor to admit her. In addition, she had been on a course of oral Bactrim back in late January and her doctor felt that Bactrim had not done the trick that time, so we needed to step up to iv antibiotics.
<br />
<br />While in the hospital, my daughter never coughed . . not in the morning, not at night . . .like at home. So it makes me wonder if she has allergies to something in our home or seasonal allergies since it is getting to be that time of year. We have always suspected she has allergies but never had her tested. Couldn't allergies have caused the low PFT? Once in the confines of a hospital room, away from the allergens in our home or outside, she didn't cough. Since we have been home and she has returned to school and been playing outside, she has sneezed and has had a slight runny nose. I haven't noticed any coughing though.
<br />
<br />I should also mention that we are fairly new to this doctor and clinic. We treated at a different clinic in our area from the time of diagnosis until the middle of last year when our doc left to go elsewhere. We switched to our current doc and clinic in October 2009. The clinic visit two weeks ago was only the third time we have seen this doctor. So I guess I haven't quite established a comfort level with her yet. We loved our prior doc and had we been seeing her and she suggested the admission, I probably wouldn't be questioning it so much because that doc knew my daughter's history much better - a quite unremarkable history, in fact!
<br />
<br />My other question is about the meds given - Gentamycin and Ceftazidime. I was not familiar with these but have since learned that Gentamycin can cause hearing loss. Are these typical meds to be used on a 6-year old's first admission?
<br />
<br />Thank you in advance for any insight offered!!

 

[dragonlady]

They use PFT's to determine a baseline and also for admitting to the hospital. It's a way of treating pro-actively as opposed to wait and see what she cultures. Sometimes at admission they will treat them with IV antibiotics that cover a spectrum of bacterial infections, especially one's your daughter may have cultured in the past. Again a way of aggressively treating the infection before it gets out of hand.

My daughter's last hospital adm., her wheezing and cough was enough for them to treat her before her PFT baseline dropped below it's normal range. She was coughing day and night with that one. However last July she was admitted it was like a bomb was dropped in the room. I was totally not expecting it at the time and she never really coughed.

I really haven't put to much time into worrying about the side effects, I know they are all pretty harmful. But you also have to remember that it's all to keep your daughter living longer even if it may cause some other problems. My daughter is getting older and I have been talking to her a little about the side effects, she doesn't seem to care because let me tell you she would rather live and she has said that to me.

I did think that when my daughter was younger at your daughter's age she was doing her PFT's incorrectly, but it was not the case for my daughter. They told me a could work with her to get ready and "practice" before the visit. Nothing changed.

 

[dragonlady]

They use PFT's to determine a baseline and also for admitting to the hospital. It's a way of treating pro-actively as opposed to wait and see what she cultures. Sometimes at admission they will treat them with IV antibiotics that cover a spectrum of bacterial infections, especially one's your daughter may have cultured in the past. Again a way of aggressively treating the infection before it gets out of hand.

My daughter's last hospital adm., her wheezing and cough was enough for them to treat her before her PFT baseline dropped below it's normal range. She was coughing day and night with that one. However last July she was admitted it was like a bomb was dropped in the room. I was totally not expecting it at the time and she never really coughed.

I really haven't put to much time into worrying about the side effects, I know they are all pretty harmful. But you also have to remember that it's all to keep your daughter living longer even if it may cause some other problems. My daughter is getting older and I have been talking to her a little about the side effects, she doesn't seem to care because let me tell you she would rather live and she has said that to me.

I did think that when my daughter was younger at your daughter's age she was doing her PFT's incorrectly, but it was not the case for my daughter. They told me a could work with her to get ready and "practice" before the visit. Nothing changed.

 

[dragonlady]

They use PFT's to determine a baseline and also for admitting to the hospital. It's a way of treating pro-actively as opposed to wait and see what she cultures. Sometimes at admission they will treat them with IV antibiotics that cover a spectrum of bacterial infections, especially one's your daughter may have cultured in the past. Again a way of aggressively treating the infection before it gets out of hand.

My daughter's last hospital adm., her wheezing and cough was enough for them to treat her before her PFT baseline dropped below it's normal range. She was coughing day and night with that one. However last July she was admitted it was like a bomb was dropped in the room. I was totally not expecting it at the time and she never really coughed.

I really haven't put to much time into worrying about the side effects, I know they are all pretty harmful. But you also have to remember that it's all to keep your daughter living longer even if it may cause some other problems. My daughter is getting older and I have been talking to her a little about the side effects, she doesn't seem to care because let me tell you she would rather live and she has said that to me.

I did think that when my daughter was younger at your daughter's age she was doing her PFT's incorrectly, but it was not the case for my daughter. They told me a could work with her to get ready and "practice" before the visit. Nothing changed.

 

[dragonlady]

They use PFT's to determine a baseline and also for admitting to the hospital. It's a way of treating pro-actively as opposed to wait and see what she cultures. Sometimes at admission they will treat them with IV antibiotics that cover a spectrum of bacterial infections, especially one's your daughter may have cultured in the past. Again a way of aggressively treating the infection before it gets out of hand.

My daughter's last hospital adm., her wheezing and cough was enough for them to treat her before her PFT baseline dropped below it's normal range. She was coughing day and night with that one. However last July she was admitted it was like a bomb was dropped in the room. I was totally not expecting it at the time and she never really coughed.

I really haven't put to much time into worrying about the side effects, I know they are all pretty harmful. But you also have to remember that it's all to keep your daughter living longer even if it may cause some other problems. My daughter is getting older and I have been talking to her a little about the side effects, she doesn't seem to care because let me tell you she would rather live and she has said that to me.

I did think that when my daughter was younger at your daughter's age she was doing her PFT's incorrectly, but it was not the case for my daughter. They told me a could work with her to get ready and "practice" before the visit. Nothing changed.

 

[dragonlady]

They use PFT's to determine a baseline and also for admitting to the hospital. It's a way of treating pro-actively as opposed to wait and see what she cultures. Sometimes at admission they will treat them with IV antibiotics that cover a spectrum of bacterial infections, especially one's your daughter may have cultured in the past. Again a way of aggressively treating the infection before it gets out of hand.
<br />
<br />My daughter's last hospital adm., her wheezing and cough was enough for them to treat her before her PFT baseline dropped below it's normal range. She was coughing day and night with that one. However last July she was admitted it was like a bomb was dropped in the room. I was totally not expecting it at the time and she never really coughed.
<br />
<br />I really haven't put to much time into worrying about the side effects, I know they are all pretty harmful. But you also have to remember that it's all to keep your daughter living longer even if it may cause some other problems. My daughter is getting older and I have been talking to her a little about the side effects, she doesn't seem to care because let me tell you she would rather live and she has said that to me.
<br />
<br />I did think that when my daughter was younger at your daughter's age she was doing her PFT's incorrectly, but it was not the case for my daughter. They told me a could work with her to get ready and "practice" before the visit. Nothing changed.

 

[rcq925]

They definitely consider the PFT's. My daughter is 6 years old as well and has been doing PFT's for about a year and a half and I know she still does not have the technique down for doing it completely properly. She still does not blow out fast enough or long enough for totally valid results in my opinion. Our doctor looks at them for consistency, basically that her numbers are staying in the same range, which for now they are.

Hayley has been in the hospital at last 15 times and on antibiotics. For some reason, she just does not seem to respond to oral antibiotics. She was just released from the hospital yesterday and is finishing at home a 2 week course of IV Tobramycin and Fortaz (Cefetadizime). She has been on this cocktail numerous times. Tobramycin and Gentamycin can cause hearing damage. We doing hearing testing at least yearly and our doctor does TObramycin blood level testing throughout the IV treatment to make sure the dosage of Tobramycin in accurate and not too high.

For Hayley, we go off of her cough (sometimes not that much), her appetite, he sleep patterns, sometimes fever. We also have a oxygen sensor, so that we can see what her oxygen saturation level is. With this admission, I could not get anything higher than 90 for her oxygen saturation, with her fully awake. She was on oxygen for the first few days and we did a bronch on Friday, still waiting on those results.

We have to watch Hayley very closely for little signs, because she tends to be a pretty happy go lucky kid who is full of energy, even when sick enough to be admitted into the hospital. My doctor tends to be very aggressive (as am I) because once lung damage occurs there is no going back, you cannot repair that damage. I have yet to hear of any CFer dying due to antibiotic resistance. I know that there are those who fear the overuse of antibiotics to treat our kids. BUt I am for preventing all the lung damage I can, so that when there is a cure for CF, Hayley will be able to benefit from it.

Hope that helps!

 

[rcq925]

They definitely consider the PFT's. My daughter is 6 years old as well and has been doing PFT's for about a year and a half and I know she still does not have the technique down for doing it completely properly. She still does not blow out fast enough or long enough for totally valid results in my opinion. Our doctor looks at them for consistency, basically that her numbers are staying in the same range, which for now they are.

Hayley has been in the hospital at last 15 times and on antibiotics. For some reason, she just does not seem to respond to oral antibiotics. She was just released from the hospital yesterday and is finishing at home a 2 week course of IV Tobramycin and Fortaz (Cefetadizime). She has been on this cocktail numerous times. Tobramycin and Gentamycin can cause hearing damage. We doing hearing testing at least yearly and our doctor does TObramycin blood level testing throughout the IV treatment to make sure the dosage of Tobramycin in accurate and not too high.

For Hayley, we go off of her cough (sometimes not that much), her appetite, he sleep patterns, sometimes fever. We also have a oxygen sensor, so that we can see what her oxygen saturation level is. With this admission, I could not get anything higher than 90 for her oxygen saturation, with her fully awake. She was on oxygen for the first few days and we did a bronch on Friday, still waiting on those results.

We have to watch Hayley very closely for little signs, because she tends to be a pretty happy go lucky kid who is full of energy, even when sick enough to be admitted into the hospital. My doctor tends to be very aggressive (as am I) because once lung damage occurs there is no going back, you cannot repair that damage. I have yet to hear of any CFer dying due to antibiotic resistance. I know that there are those who fear the overuse of antibiotics to treat our kids. BUt I am for preventing all the lung damage I can, so that when there is a cure for CF, Hayley will be able to benefit from it.

Hope that helps!

 

[rcq925]

They definitely consider the PFT's. My daughter is 6 years old as well and has been doing PFT's for about a year and a half and I know she still does not have the technique down for doing it completely properly. She still does not blow out fast enough or long enough for totally valid results in my opinion. Our doctor looks at them for consistency, basically that her numbers are staying in the same range, which for now they are.

Hayley has been in the hospital at last 15 times and on antibiotics. For some reason, she just does not seem to respond to oral antibiotics. She was just released from the hospital yesterday and is finishing at home a 2 week course of IV Tobramycin and Fortaz (Cefetadizime). She has been on this cocktail numerous times. Tobramycin and Gentamycin can cause hearing damage. We doing hearing testing at least yearly and our doctor does TObramycin blood level testing throughout the IV treatment to make sure the dosage of Tobramycin in accurate and not too high.

For Hayley, we go off of her cough (sometimes not that much), her appetite, he sleep patterns, sometimes fever. We also have a oxygen sensor, so that we can see what her oxygen saturation level is. With this admission, I could not get anything higher than 90 for her oxygen saturation, with her fully awake. She was on oxygen for the first few days and we did a bronch on Friday, still waiting on those results.

We have to watch Hayley very closely for little signs, because she tends to be a pretty happy go lucky kid who is full of energy, even when sick enough to be admitted into the hospital. My doctor tends to be very aggressive (as am I) because once lung damage occurs there is no going back, you cannot repair that damage. I have yet to hear of any CFer dying due to antibiotic resistance. I know that there are those who fear the overuse of antibiotics to treat our kids. BUt I am for preventing all the lung damage I can, so that when there is a cure for CF, Hayley will be able to benefit from it.

Hope that helps!

 

[rcq925]

They definitely consider the PFT's. My daughter is 6 years old as well and has been doing PFT's for about a year and a half and I know she still does not have the technique down for doing it completely properly. She still does not blow out fast enough or long enough for totally valid results in my opinion. Our doctor looks at them for consistency, basically that her numbers are staying in the same range, which for now they are.

Hayley has been in the hospital at last 15 times and on antibiotics. For some reason, she just does not seem to respond to oral antibiotics. She was just released from the hospital yesterday and is finishing at home a 2 week course of IV Tobramycin and Fortaz (Cefetadizime). She has been on this cocktail numerous times. Tobramycin and Gentamycin can cause hearing damage. We doing hearing testing at least yearly and our doctor does TObramycin blood level testing throughout the IV treatment to make sure the dosage of Tobramycin in accurate and not too high.

For Hayley, we go off of her cough (sometimes not that much), her appetite, he sleep patterns, sometimes fever. We also have a oxygen sensor, so that we can see what her oxygen saturation level is. With this admission, I could not get anything higher than 90 for her oxygen saturation, with her fully awake. She was on oxygen for the first few days and we did a bronch on Friday, still waiting on those results.

We have to watch Hayley very closely for little signs, because she tends to be a pretty happy go lucky kid who is full of energy, even when sick enough to be admitted into the hospital. My doctor tends to be very aggressive (as am I) because once lung damage occurs there is no going back, you cannot repair that damage. I have yet to hear of any CFer dying due to antibiotic resistance. I know that there are those who fear the overuse of antibiotics to treat our kids. BUt I am for preventing all the lung damage I can, so that when there is a cure for CF, Hayley will be able to benefit from it.

Hope that helps!

 

[rcq925]

They definitely consider the PFT's. My daughter is 6 years old as well and has been doing PFT's for about a year and a half and I know she still does not have the technique down for doing it completely properly. She still does not blow out fast enough or long enough for totally valid results in my opinion. Our doctor looks at them for consistency, basically that her numbers are staying in the same range, which for now they are.
<br />
<br />Hayley has been in the hospital at last 15 times and on antibiotics. For some reason, she just does not seem to respond to oral antibiotics. She was just released from the hospital yesterday and is finishing at home a 2 week course of IV Tobramycin and Fortaz (Cefetadizime). She has been on this cocktail numerous times. Tobramycin and Gentamycin can cause hearing damage. We doing hearing testing at least yearly and our doctor does TObramycin blood level testing throughout the IV treatment to make sure the dosage of Tobramycin in accurate and not too high.
<br />
<br />For Hayley, we go off of her cough (sometimes not that much), her appetite, he sleep patterns, sometimes fever. We also have a oxygen sensor, so that we can see what her oxygen saturation level is. With this admission, I could not get anything higher than 90 for her oxygen saturation, with her fully awake. She was on oxygen for the first few days and we did a bronch on Friday, still waiting on those results.
<br />
<br />We have to watch Hayley very closely for little signs, because she tends to be a pretty happy go lucky kid who is full of energy, even when sick enough to be admitted into the hospital. My doctor tends to be very aggressive (as am I) because once lung damage occurs there is no going back, you cannot repair that damage. I have yet to hear of any CFer dying due to antibiotic resistance. I know that there are those who fear the overuse of antibiotics to treat our kids. BUt I am for preventing all the lung damage I can, so that when there is a cure for CF, Hayley will be able to benefit from it.
<br />
<br />Hope that helps!

 

[sdelorenzo]

Did they have her repeat the pft before she left the hospital? I think that would tell you if the IV's were necessary. My daughter was six when her pfts were low (65%) I think for a number of months. I REALLY thought she didn't know how to do the pft's. Well about a week after the IV's started they did another pft. Her score was in the 100's. They have stayed there for the past two years. It made me believe in IV's.

Now...on to my 6 yr old son. His pft's have almost always been 115-120%. But starting in October they fell to 75% and have stayed there. He was on 5 weeks of IV's, steroids, etc. Nothing has brought it up. It did go back up to 90 in March but it is back down to 81%. There are two theories now as to what has caused his decline - allergies or a virus (such as N1H1) caused lung damage. So he just started allergy shots last week.
Sharon, mom of Sophia, 8 and Jack, 6 both with cf, Grant, 15 months no cf

 

[sdelorenzo]

Did they have her repeat the pft before she left the hospital? I think that would tell you if the IV's were necessary. My daughter was six when her pfts were low (65%) I think for a number of months. I REALLY thought she didn't know how to do the pft's. Well about a week after the IV's started they did another pft. Her score was in the 100's. They have stayed there for the past two years. It made me believe in IV's.

Now...on to my 6 yr old son. His pft's have almost always been 115-120%. But starting in October they fell to 75% and have stayed there. He was on 5 weeks of IV's, steroids, etc. Nothing has brought it up. It did go back up to 90 in March but it is back down to 81%. There are two theories now as to what has caused his decline - allergies or a virus (such as N1H1) caused lung damage. So he just started allergy shots last week.
Sharon, mom of Sophia, 8 and Jack, 6 both with cf, Grant, 15 months no cf

 

[sdelorenzo]

Did they have her repeat the pft before she left the hospital? I think that would tell you if the IV's were necessary. My daughter was six when her pfts were low (65%) I think for a number of months. I REALLY thought she didn't know how to do the pft's. Well about a week after the IV's started they did another pft. Her score was in the 100's. They have stayed there for the past two years. It made me believe in IV's.

Now...on to my 6 yr old son. His pft's have almost always been 115-120%. But starting in October they fell to 75% and have stayed there. He was on 5 weeks of IV's, steroids, etc. Nothing has brought it up. It did go back up to 90 in March but it is back down to 81%. There are two theories now as to what has caused his decline - allergies or a virus (such as N1H1) caused lung damage. So he just started allergy shots last week.
Sharon, mom of Sophia, 8 and Jack, 6 both with cf, Grant, 15 months no cf

 

[sdelorenzo]

Did they have her repeat the pft before she left the hospital? I think that would tell you if the IV's were necessary. My daughter was six when her pfts were low (65%) I think for a number of months. I REALLY thought she didn't know how to do the pft's. Well about a week after the IV's started they did another pft. Her score was in the 100's. They have stayed there for the past two years. It made me believe in IV's.

Now...on to my 6 yr old son. His pft's have almost always been 115-120%. But starting in October they fell to 75% and have stayed there. He was on 5 weeks of IV's, steroids, etc. Nothing has brought it up. It did go back up to 90 in March but it is back down to 81%. There are two theories now as to what has caused his decline - allergies or a virus (such as N1H1) caused lung damage. So he just started allergy shots last week.
Sharon, mom of Sophia, 8 and Jack, 6 both with cf, Grant, 15 months no cf

 

[sdelorenzo]

Did they have her repeat the pft before she left the hospital? I think that would tell you if the IV's were necessary. My daughter was six when her pfts were low (65%) I think for a number of months. I REALLY thought she didn't know how to do the pft's. Well about a week after the IV's started they did another pft. Her score was in the 100's. They have stayed there for the past two years. It made me believe in IV's.
<br />
<br />Now...on to my 6 yr old son. His pft's have almost always been 115-120%. But starting in October they fell to 75% and have stayed there. He was on 5 weeks of IV's, steroids, etc. Nothing has brought it up. It did go back up to 90 in March but it is back down to 81%. There are two theories now as to what has caused his decline - allergies or a virus (such as N1H1) caused lung damage. So he just started allergy shots last week.
<br />Sharon, mom of Sophia, 8 and Jack, 6 both with cf, Grant, 15 months no cf
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