Back Again…

Ever since Jared had his mini episode last Saturday he hasn’t been the same. He’s been extremely fatigued and just can’t seem to get over feeling crummy.

This past Saturday his low back started really hurting and Sunday all he could do was think about sleep. He was having shortness of breath to the point he couldn’t breathe if he laid down and developed a rash on his chest. His appetite significantly diminished and felt as though he wasn’t digesting properly. We weren’t sure if he was having some sort of reaction to the Steroids or if it was just more M.S. symptoms.

Sunday night he was up for several hours during the middle of the night in the fetal position because he was in so much pain. He felt like his entire spine was on fire! He was still feeling exhausted and over all malaise.

Monday morning I made a call to the Neurologist. Dr. Chang said he didn’t feel it was a reaction to the meds but if we felt that he was feeling worse to not hesitate to take him in. So I made the decision to take him to the E.R.

We got to Banner Gateway around 10:30am. They put him in a bed pretty quickly but we didn’t see an actual doctor for almost 4 hours. They did a chest x-ray and basic physical exam. They ran a saline solution IV, an EKG, and drew his blood. The x-ray showed ‘something’ on his lung, the physical exam showed he’s still having delayed reflexes..even when they drew his blood he didn’t feel the pain of the needle until it was out! The EKG was normal but showed that his heart rate seemed a bit slow 54bpm, and his blood work was all normal.

The E.R. doctor said they think he has an atypical case of pneumonia. He told us that it’s common for M.S. patients to get a secondary infection after a relapse. The E.R. doctor consulted with Dr. Chang’s office (he was out for the day) to see if there were any additional tests that they would like done, but they didn’t feel anything further was necessary.

They gave him an RX for a Z-Pak (Zithromax) and wrote a note for 48 hours off of work. If in 48 hours he isn’t improving or worsens he needs to go back in ASAP.

So that’s how we spent 8 hours of our day yesterday, he was discharged at 6:30pm. Jared was quite grumpy by the end of it all. I try to stay positive but it really is hard after a week of stress and worry.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s pneumonia at all. His white blood cell count is normal. He’s not coughing or running a fever. The ‘only’ indicator his lungs are involved is the fact when he lays down he has trouble breathing. We are going ahead with the RX just to cover our bases..but these doctors are guessing!! It’s so frustrating!

I’m calling St. Joe’s today to try to set up Jared’s MRI that Dr. Chang ordered for him last week, that we still have yet to hear from anyone about. I’m hoping there will be an availability open soon…