The Medical Month

Well, it looks like March came and went without a post since Valentine's. Don't worry, I have "good" reason for my long break. (Beware…really long post but some cute pictures too!)

Friday, March 5 - Picked up Simon from daycare where they told me he had been more congested and kind of sad (mind you he’s been congested off and on since he started daycare in January). Being sad is not typical of my little guy so after calling Brian on the way home, we decided it would be best to see if we could get him in to see the doctor that evening. Luckily they have later hours for pediatrics so we got in at 6:40pm. After a long wait, then a few short minutes with the doctor, Simon was given two breathing treatments and diagnosed with RSV. After the treatment, the doctor came back and so I asked him how serious his RSV was. He said RSV is very serious but he didn't understand that I was asking how serious Simon's condition was. He then told me he was breathing fine and wouldn't need to go to the hospital. THEN he checked Simon's oxygen levels and changed his mind! His oxygen was kind of low so he told us we needed to head over to the hospital to get his levels back up but made it sound like it would be a simple thing.

I started crying after the doctor told us to pack up and go to the hospital. I called Brian on the way home to inform him of our Friday night change of plans. Of course I was bawling the whole way home not knowing what to really expect. We packed a few things, mainly for Simon and arrived at the hospital around 9pm. The doctor’s office called ahead to admit us so they were expecting us. After another long wait, the resident doctor came in to give a diagnosis. We were taken to a room around 10:30 and Simon was put in a little mini hospital gown and hooked up to a bunch of monitors. (He liked to play with these and succeeded in pulling some of them off several times.)
The respiratory therapist came in shortly thereafter to suction him and help with all his congestion. They decided not to put him on oxygen yet since his levels weren't too low but would keep a close eye on it. For those who don't know what suctioning entails, they basically put a catheter down the nose and suck out all the mucus or secretions. Needless to say, Simon HATED this!! Luckily the nurse or assistant held him down so we didn't have to be the bad guys.

Finally falling asleep

Finally we were able to try and get Simon to sleep but it was after midnight when he finally gave in to his exhaustion. An hour or two later his monitors kept beeping while Brian and I were trying to get settled in for our uncomfortable overnight stay. Brian went out to ask if there was a way to stop the noise and they realized it was beeping because his oxygen levels were low. So they put him on oxygen.

He was still cute as ever.

Saturday, March 6 - Same routine every 3-4 hours: Check vitals (usually while sleeping and the trick was to keep him asleep), wake up hungry, wait for Respiratory Therapist (RT) to come suction him, then I could feed him. He slept most of this day and was pretty melancholy. We finally got his diagnosis 24 hours after some mucus was sent for testing. He had MPV (metaphenumal virus) that is one of the different strains of Bronchiolitis (very similar to RSV but apparently there are 7 different strains).

Trying to play but not much energy.

Sunday, March 7 - Doctor from our clinic comes in early in the morning to check Simon. He wants to take him off oxygen, stop suctioning, and get him going home as soon as possible. The nurse and RT came in just as the doctor was saying this but after checking Simon they did not agree and went ahead and suctioned him. That afternoon they took him off oxygen for a trial and he lasted 2 hours before his levels dropped again so they turned it back on.

He started to get bored so we surrounded him with pillows
so he could sit up without too much effort and play.

Monday, March 8 - Yep, we're still in the hospital. Simon's actual Pediatrician finally saw him for the first time during this whole ordeal. I just really like this doctor the best. I think it's mainly because of his good bedside manner. Still not ready to go home yet. One more "room air" trial in the middle of the night and he only lasts 1 1/2 hours. So it's not looking too promising from my standpoint. He's looking and acting more himself and wanting to play. The assistant brought in some toys he could play with and she gave him a sponge bath and he loved it!

My smiling, happy baby came back!!
He does so well sitting up on his own now.

Tuesday, March 9 – His oxygen was turned off at 2am for his 3rd trial. He wasn’t getting suctioned as often either. Our doctor came in to check on him around 9am and said he had done well without his oxygen and he was ready to send us home. I was so happy to hear those words!! After all was said and done, we finally left the hospital around 11am. Our nurse kept checking to see if we were packed and ready to leave. It was almost like he was very anxious for us to leave for some reason. I know we were excited to get to leave but it takes some time to get dressed, pack up everything after a 4 day stay, and get Simon fed before leaving. Finally we were home!!

Sleeping peacefully once the oxygen was taken off

Don’t think this was it and he was miraculously better. We were given a prescription to the Outpatient Suction Clinic, which is basically back up to the Pediatric floor of the hospital for the same suctioning but it’s outpatient. We went once a day for about 3 days and then went periodically for a total of 6 visits when we were told he didn’t need to come anymore as long as we used the bulb to suction him at home.

During the 4 day hospitalization I left Simon twice to walk over to the cafeteria with Brian for dinner on Sunday and Monday. By Monday afternoon I was starting to go crazy cooped up in there. Brian had meetings Saturday morning and was gone until the afternoon. Then Monday he worked on his laptop out in the little waiting room around the corner from Simon’s room. Tuesday morning he had someone meet him in the waiting room for a meeting. He kept busy but I was very grateful that he was able to be there for most of the time for support. It wasn’t easy seeing my baby in the hospital hooked up to oxygen and other wires, but I’m glad it wasn’t more serious.

Luckily we were able to fly Brian’s mom out to help with Simon so he didn’t have to go back to daycare so soon. She was here for a week and a half and it was so nice to have her help!

Our next adventure:
On Friday, March 26th Simon was kind of fussy. In the middle of the night he was really warm and when we checked his temperature, he had a fever of about 100 degrees. Saturday morning he was burning up and his temperature just kept getting higher and higher. At 2pm after he woke from his nap he was close to 103 degrees. We called the doctor’s office hoping they were still taking appointments and went in at 2:40pm. His temperature was 103.8 degrees when the nurse checked him. The doctor thought it was probably just another virus he caught but decided to do some blood work to double check. After two attempts, one in each arm, they finally got his vein and drew blood. After a long wait the doctor came in to tell us Simon’s white blood cell count was very high so it was bacterial. He then wanted to do chest x-rays. This showed the onset of pneumonia in Simon’s lungs. The doctor prescribed some antibiotic, Motrin, and Benadryl to help with the pneumonia, fever, and sleeping. Simon was one tired and hungry little guy after this 2 hour doctor’s appointment.

Total time at the doctor’s office March 5th: 1 1/2 hours
Total time at the doctor’s office March 26th: 2 hours
Total time in the hospital: 4 days
Total time out of daycare: 2 weeks, 2 days
Holding my baby boy and grateful for all our blessings (and trials): PRICELESS

So even though we’ve had a very rough (and very expensive) month, I am so grateful for our many blessings and for all those who have helped our family. I know family and friends were praying for all of us, especially Simon, during these times. Sorry for such a long post but I wanted to document this for my records.