10 Days

Jacob's pre-operative appointment is in Boston tomorrow from 1:00 - 3:30 pm. I have to prepare a list of his medications tonight and actually pack the bottles tomorrow morning to verify his dosages. When Jacob began taking Depakote, he developed an aversion to fruits and most vegetables. I posted before that a possible side effect of Depakote is food perversion because it may leave a metallic taste in the mouth. So as a result, Jacob has been constipated because he mostly eats dairy and carbohydrates. I have been giving him Miralax as needed and a multi-vitamin with iron daily. Jacob had some blood tests a few weeks ago and apparently his blood cells are large, indicating either an iron deficiency or a folic acid deficiency. Since he has been taking the multi-vitamin, his pediatrician determined that he would also need to take folic acid because this deficiency is also a possible side effect of Depakote. So basically, whenever Jacob is able to stop taking Depakote, he will also be able to stop taking the Miralax, the multi-vitamin, the folic acid. The other medications he is on are Flovent, to prevent an asthma attack, and Proventil, to treat an asthma attack. And actually, asthma isn't diagnosed in children Jacob's age because many children grow out of it so it is really called reactive airway disease at this stage. I'm looking forward already to a year from now when maybe Jacob won't be taking ANY medication AT ALL. Nothing will ever be as bad as prepping Jacob's thigh and administering an injection every morning but... Sometimes I have to do a little detective work and look for evidence of a wet syringe to know I already gave him that and rinsed it or look for stains on Jacob's shirt to see which one dribbled out of his mouth.