Gavin’s #IVIG infusion was a very frustrating experience today

So Gavin's medication arrived. We went through the newly received supplies and figured out how to draw up the new solution. Previously, we were using 3, 10cc vials for a total of 30cc's of solution.With the new medication, there are 2 vials total. The first vial contains 10cc's and the second contains 5cc's. That makes for a total of 15cc's and exactly half of the solution he had previously been infusing.The total amount of actual medication remains consist at 3 grams.With that out of the way, the bad news is that Gavin likely won't be able to do these on his own, at least for now.I realize he's a bit out of practice but he made mistakes, the biggest of which wasted about 5cc's of the medication. He wasn't even…

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It’s a HUGE day for us and here’s why

After weeks of stress, worry, fear, frustration, anger and exhaustion, we should finally see Gavin's IVIG infusion medication arrive today. We don't have a specific time but it's supposed to be before lunch. I can't totally exhale until they actually arrive because this has been a serialistic nightmare this far. There have been a few times along the way that we were supposed to have had these issues resolved and his medications delivered. I'm absolutely hopeful that by this time tomorrow, we will have out this all behind us.

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Here’s how we figured out the legal problems after Gavin turned 18

I was finally able to connect with the person in the legal department at Akron Children's Hospital today, that I needed to speak with. We had a somewhat lengthy conversation about Gavin and how we should proceed with the legal quandary of him turning 18 years old, being legally incompetent and us being unable to complete guardianship at the moment. The current plan is to use a medical power of attorney and when it comes to signing any paperwork, Gavin will sign but so will we. I guess that covers our bases. Everyone understands what's going on and shockingly (I say with total sarcasm), it's a first for everyone. We have to get the papers signed and notorized in the morning. I will deliver them, along with a sworn affidavit…

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The best news we’ve had in a month

I received a call from Akron Children's Home Health, the pharmacy we get Gavin's IVIG infusion medication and supplies from. Everything is set and Gavin should have his new medication on Thursday morning. There was a slight delay because apparently, there were special contracts that needed to be signed in order for them to even carry the new medication. We also have a bit of trial and error ahead of us as well. They are sending out the tubing they believe is correct for Gavin's IVIG infusion. The medication is supposed to be infused over a certain period of time. The pharmacist wants to get things down to about sixty minutes per infusion. If the tubing works as expected, they will send out more. If it doesn't, we will try…

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Gavin’s surgery is now uncertain

Gavin's supposed to have an endoscopy and a colonoscopy done at Akron Children's Hospital next week. They consider this surgery and refer to it as such, so I'm doing the same. I received a phone call this morning from his Gastroenterologist. This is the doctor who ordered the non-urgent but medically necessary procedures. As a result of Gavin's recent issues surrounding his IVIG infusions, he now will need medically cleared in order to proceed. They need his immunologist to sign off on the procedures and unfortunately, she won't be back in the office until Monday and we may need to make an appointment for him to get checked out. That may be cutting things a bit close. Assuming that Gavin's IVIG infusion medication shows up this week, he should be…

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We finally figured out why Gavin has NOT been able to get his life saving medication and you won’t believe the reason

I've just spent the last three hours on the phone, bouncing between Gavin's doctor, the specialty pharmacy and insurance. I swear to God, if I had hair, it would be all over the floor right now. After three fricking frustrating and grueling weeks, we've finally gotten to the bottom of why Gavin's infusion medications are still not available. I'm going to skip the nightmarish phone calls and the fact that Gavin's doctor and her entire office is gone for the whole week, without an on call person, according to the answering service. Instead, I'm going to simply explain what caused this giant cluster fuck and it is/was a giant cluster fuck. I just got off the phone after speaking to a very determined person with Gavin's insurance provider.. We couldn't…

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Talking with a #Schizophrenic Part 2

In Part 2 of Talking with a Schizophrenic, Gavin details his latest mission to save the timeline from his evil self. It's very important to understand that this is not an issue of an overactive imagination. If you missed Part 1, you can find that here. In Gavin's mind, these things are actually happening and they are very real. He does his best to recount his actions but struggles with memory recall. He's very proud of these missions, wants to share them and truly believes he's saved the Universe. We don't feed the delusions but we don't challenge them either. Our job is to listen when he wants to talk because as long as he's comfortable telling us these things, we have a much better understanding of where he is…

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My wife and I have made a very difficult decision

I haven't heard anything about Gavin's IVIG infusion meds yet and he will be missing his sixth infusion in a row on Monday. As a result, Lizze and I are having to make some difficult decisions. It's completely reasonable to assume that with every missed infusion, the risks to Gavin's health increase. We don't know anything for certain or to what degree the risks increases but I think it's perfectly reasonable to take precautions at this point. With that being said, Lizze and I have decided not to expose Gavin to large groups of people. Things like crowed movie theaters, family gatherings and even the grocery store are needless risks. Again, we know for sure is that he has a severely compromised immune system. We know for sure that he…

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