Please deliver me from this hell !
I am posting yet again on my son's battle with croup. It is now Thursday and we have been here two full days. Here is the original post in case anyone wishes to read how I got here:
It is now Thursday and I am sitting here in the PICU with my little boy. I thought we would be home now. Everyone thought he was getting better. We were moved yesterday from the PICU to the children's ward. We were told if he was fine through that we would be released the next morning. But things didn't go fine like we all thought.
It was almost 10 pm when he needed a change. I did his diaper and changed his top when I noticed he was getting upset and kicking wildly. I pulled him away and saw the real problem. He wasn't breathing. His mouth was open and fighting to bring in air. I raced to the door holding him while my husband hit the nurse's call button.
Our nurse grabbed him from me while the doctors poured out and the alarms went off. I stepped back with my husband as they put the bag over his face and fought for him to breathe. There was a wall of people so I couldn't see much. They ordered another epi treatment and asked me to assist in holding him and the mask with the doctors sitting with me. After that they put him on oxygen and sent us back to the PICU.
So that is where we have been. He was getting epi every two hours till they did rounds around noon. The doctors were concerned that something wasn't right. The symptoms were not consistent with croup. So they ordered for a bronchoscopy to view the inside of his throat. They had done three x-rays but none of them showed any problems.
Waiting for the procedure to be done was one of the hardest things I have ever done. They came out and told me that there is definately an infection in his throat. His labs had shown a normal white blood cell count so there was no way of knowing it was there without the test being done. So now he is on antibiotics.
I finally got him settled down and in his crib for the night around 9 pm. I was calling my mother when he sat straight up and began fighting to breathe. Again I hit the call button and screamed for help. Another mom ran for a nurse and they did the whole thing all over again. I am so tired. I had the doctor tell me I looked well done. The baby is sleeping now after his antibiotic treatment. I am going to try to rest a little and see what happens. I wonder when this nightmare will be over for our family. I appreciate all the love and prayers that have poured in. We need every little bit !
Just wanted to add a photo for everyone. I took this before my son stopped breathing for the second time. I just got it uploaded.
UPDATE:
It is now 11 pm on Friday. Pat is sitting in a highchair watching a Yo Gabba Gabba video and eating snacks. He is happy and alert with a weak cough. The antibiotics worked ! I am ready to cry from sheer joy.
This morning they were talking about a repeat bronchoscopy if he didn't improve. I broke down and sobbed and had social services come in and tell me I needed to leave the hospital for a serious break. My mom took over and I went to the store to buy him some things and then home for a REAL shower. I can back whole and ready for action.
Pat just improved steadily throughout the day but the evening is what scares me. It is always around 10 pm that things go wrong. But he is sitting there happy and content without needing additional fluids. He ate a whole dinner and is drinking from his cup well. He was up playing and smiling all evening long.
The decision was made that if tonight is uneventful then he can either go home tomorrow or be moved to the pediatric ward for another day. I already know that I am going to push for one more day in the hospital. I just need that to ensure we will not have another stop breathing episode. They told me that there would be no problems with that. So hopefully the prayers are working along with the antibiotics and all is going to just continue improving. Thank you to everyone ! I really appreciate all the love and concern.
I am so sorry that you and your little guy are going through this. I will keep him and your family in my thoughts and prayers.
Oh my god. I am really mad at myself now. I made a huge deal about these little problems that didn't really bother my daughter and people were bashing me for it and now I understand why. I feel completely horrible. I am so sorry this is happening to you. I wish the best of luck. Seeing your child not be able to breathe must be the hardest thing ever.
Leash (Mommy To a Beautiful Princess)
Croup is bad. I've still got a nasty cough and was sick all through the month of Feb with it.
Hope things improve soon.
Ashley's Husband Made it Home From a Deployment in Iraq - And Then Tragedy Struck
- PurlWise
on Mar. 11, 2010 at 11:36 PM