For about the past 10 months, Austin has been receiving IVIg (intravenous immunoglobulin) infusions once per month at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. These infusions have been very successful in stabilizing his lung infections and he has not been hospitalized since last summer! Steve and I offered to give Heather and Kevin a break (and save sick leave), and we took Austin down to TCH this month. He spent the preceeding night with us and we left about 6:30am. He was also on IV antibiotics so he had those on the trip down to Houston.
We arrive a little past our appointment time because of rush hour TRAFFIC in Houston...traffic in all caps because you have to experience it to know how congested it can get!
Everyone in the Pulmonary area seems to know Austin, I guess since he has been coming there regularly since he was six months old. Austin has the routine down and knows exactly where to go and what to expect next.
At Texas Children's, as you might expect, they know how to keep children distracted and happy so they offer video games and movies during his infusion, which takes roughly three hours to complete. The pulmonologist will be writing the insurance company again soon to request another six months of IVIg therapy. Please pray that the insurance will continue to pay for his treatments....it is no small request....the infusions are $10,000 each, but worth every penny for stable and improved lung function! Just a note, if you think this photo layout looks a bit strange, I used an effect called "gritty" for these photos--it seemed appropriate for Austin.
For about the past 10 months, Austin has been receiving IVIg (intravenous immunoglobulin) infusions once per month at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. These infusions have been very successful in stabilizing his lung infections and he has not been hospitalized since last summer! Steve and I offered to give Heather and Kevin a break (and save sick leave), and we took Austin down to TCH this month. He spent the preceeding night with us and we left about 6:30am. He was also on IV antibiotics so he had those on the trip down to Houston.
We arrive a little past our appointment time because of rush hour TRAFFIC in Houston...traffic in all caps because you have to experience it to know how congested it can get!
Everyone in the Pulmonary area seems to know Austin, I guess since he has been coming there regularly since he was six months old. Austin has the routine down and knows exactly where to go and what to expect next.
At Texas Children's, as you might expect, they know how to keep children distracted and happy so they offer video games and movies during his infusion, which takes roughly three hours to complete. The pulmonologist will be writing the insurance company again soon to request another six months of IVIg therapy. Please pray that the insurance will continue to pay for his treatments....it is no small request....the infusions are $10,000 each, but worth every penny for stable and improved lung function! Just a note, if you think this photo layout looks a bit strange, I used an effect called "gritty" for these photos--it seemed appropriate for Austin.
No comments:
Post a Comment