anyone else tired of this blog?

Mason had his LAST visit with the infectious disease clinic today!!   Woot! Woot!

He actually hasn't taken his medicine since Saturday.  We let him skip Sunday because it was his birthday (my baby is 15!!??) and he was playing drum set at 3 church services, (not fun if you're sick) and I thought he deserved a day off.  Then today we kinda skipped it too, because he got up late, and was going to the doc midday.....anyway, it's all good now, because he is officially, physician condoned, drug-free, "like a real boy".

A few weeks ago he made a tower out of his medicine bottles:

And today, he threw them in the trash:

What a long SEVEN WEEKS it has been since he started taking the medicine!!  There is *very* little chance the staph will come back....but I'm sure I will be paranoid for a little while longer.  It just seems so cool to not give out the meds 3 times a day! A little scary, but cool.

Mason's incision is looking well-healed by now.  He starts therapy next Friday, where he will begin working on strengthening his arm, and regaining range of motion.  I'm sure that will be painful, but I'm sure it's nothing he cannot handle. He has proven that he is an official tough guy.

almost there

Mason had a follow-up appointment with the orthopedic doctor yesterday, and the news was good.  His bone is looking great, no signs of infection or stress on the new bone growth.  So, he has been released from tight restriction and can now use his arm freely, lift weights, ditch the splint.  This is all welcome news!  He still is restricted from contact sports like basketball, snow skiing, jumping sports....so we have a few things to avoid for a few more months.  But all in all it was a satisfying visit.

Monday is the (hopefully last) visit to see the Infectious Disease doctor.  And the really big hope here is that his labs are good and he will be able to stop taking the bleeping medicine!!  I feel pretty confident that is the case - and so did the ortho doc, although she still defers to the ID doc.  I did tell Mason he could skip his meds on this Sunday, because it is his birthday :)  My baby will be 15 years old! Gasp!

Here is the latest picture of Mason's arm.  It is really weird to see it without a bunch of metal in it--all that is left is the guided growth plate that is supposed to keep his radius growing straight.  You can see the holes left in his bones from the newly removed plate pretty clearly, as well as the healed-over holes from previous hardware, and the larger, partially filled in hole from where the staph tried to eat away his bone (closer to the elbow joint).  Next time we x-ray him (in May) it will probably look a lot different.

Mason also received a prescription to start some physical therapy for his arm to try to improve his range of motion.  Before the surgery he had a lot of pain and limited pronation (palm facing down).  That made dribbling a basketball a big problem.  Now pronation is easy, but supination (palm facing up) is very difficult.  Although he probably will not regain full range of motion, we should see improvement - and ultimately without pain, although it may take a while for that. 

Looking forward to drug-free days ahead!

a picture is worth....

For all those who need (or just like) pictures with their stories, here it is:  the newest and LAST incision on Mason's arm!

This time he has steri-strips, which he prefers to the stitches.  His doctor tries to keep him happy when possible....which hasn't been often enough!

And here's one more tidbit:  I just gave Mason his LAST rifampin capsule!  Hip hip hooray!  He might kinda miss having bright orange urine every morning, but he won't miss taking the pills.  (sorry if that was "orange zone" information.)

new month

Mason went back to school today - starting a new month!! He finished out February with a visit to the Infectious Disease doc. He was hoping she would say he could quit the antibiotics, but she did not say that. She wants him to do 2 more weeks, then if his labwork is good (which we expect it to be) he will be done.  We persisted and talked her into ditching the rifampin, which I believe was a key player in Mason's dark moods. So, although there was initial disappointment at having the stay on the meds, having one less med (after today-last day-woohoo) will help a little - at least psychologically.  I know the clindamycin is still a harsh drug, and Mason is taking 3 times the dosage, at 5'8" and 130lbs that Scott took, at 6'3" 220lbs, for an infection a few years ago. I can see why he feels sick when he takes it, even with the probiotics and the zofran.  But, only 2 more weeks --it can be done!

Mason took off his own dressing Sunday night, a little early, just to "make sure everything is ok in there".  His incision looks very good, and we are becoming expert at judging incisions. :)  I forgot to take a picture, but I will do that this afternoon and post it.  It's a thing of beauty.   He is wearing a splint for the next several weeks, but that certainly beats a cast any day!!  His next orthopedic follow up is March 9.