A near Medicine Disaster....

Goodness, where do I start today?

You do know that I have been on a crusade since Connor got sick and that I do not cut people any slack when it comes to Connor's medical care. Well, if I can criticize others then I better be prepared to call myself on the floor when I mess up and today I did!

One of Connor's drugs he takes is called Cyclosporin. We are not to sure what kind of role this drug is really making in Connor's care but since he started taking this the same week he started IVIG and he started getting better we all decided we won't mess with something if it is working. So, off all the drugs Connor takes this is the most horrid tasting one of all. He 'only' has to take 0.4 ml twice daily but that still causes for a lot of gagging reflexes to kick in. The interesting part of this drug as well is the fact that even thought he is taking it now for 9 months it does not truly show up much in his blood levels. Of course the side effect of intense hair growth is showing up but the other part about the impact this drug can have on the kidney function has not materialized! This is a really good thing because Connor after all only has one kidney.

Well, every few weeks I pick up a new bottle and it comes in this little round glass bottle with a special top and syringe to draw up the medication. This month for some reason I was given a bottle that resembles the same bottles Connor gets for some of his other drugs ...

This morning I got all his medications out and started pre-filling the syringes he has to take. 3.5 ml of Prednisone, 2.5 ml of Enalapril, one crushed pill of Folic Acid dissolved in OJ and 0.4 ml of Cyclosporin.

I went and put the plate of medications in front of Connor who always starts out with the Cyclosporin because it is the worst, and then works himself down to the Enapapril and TUMS because they 'taste' the best. I gave him the first syringe and it went as well as it can go, the Folic Acid .. no problem. Then came the Prednisone ... I thought Connor was going to get sick right then and there. Somehow he still finished with the Enalapril and TUMS but was going crazy about how horrible the taste in his mouth was. I was really surprised at his reaction but then kept wondering why he was acting so out of character. I went back in the kitchen and looked at the bottles and to my huge shock there was the Cyclosporin sitting on my counter instead of the Prednisone!!! Can you do the math how many times Connor was over his normal dose? Instead of taking 0.4 ml, my son had just taken 3.9 ml!!!

Within a minute of realizing what happened I had e-mailed Dr. Soep, left a phone message on Michelle's phone, Dr. Soeps Nurse, and also told Ron. Ron said to call the Pharmacy and see what the Pharmacist thought. So I was on the phone with Walgreen's about one minute later and had a very calming talk with the Pharmacist on duty. His opinion was that there should be no worry because Connor was used to having this drug in his body and that he thinks if we just skip a day or two we should be fine. About 10 minutes after this I got a call from Dr. Soep and who had a similar report for me ... the pharmacist at TCH had told her that this was not in any form an overdose but that we should now skip two days of taking this drug. The more Dr. Soep and I talked we decided to skip three days. I went and told Connor, and my son thought those were the best news ever! A break from the drugs he so despises! He then asked me if we could do this all the time ... take a lot of it just once a week!!! gosh how simple it all is to a child's mind!!! My heart beat calmed down by around noon!!!

So almost 12 months of giving my son drugs twice daily ... just one slip and the outcome could have been bad. I got lucky and as Dr. Soep said to me: 'The best part of this is that this will be the last time I make this mistake'. Yes, I am positive at this one!!!

Hugs,

A