I had high hopes that we could avoid any hospitalizations this year. This hope was based on the facts that the boys' urological surgeries are done and because Oliver didn't need to be hospitalized last May when he had pneumonia. I was wrong. When I checked his saturation at 1:15 am on Friday it was 83, and I knew that meant we needed to pack a bag and drive straight to the ER. I knew the pediatrician would expect that we would go to the hospital where he works, but I chose to go to the bigger hospital which has a Children's Hospital within it. We had no wait in the ER and within a few minutes Oliver was on 6 liters of oxygen. ER and hospital were very full. We stayed in her room in the emergency department in which several patients were in the same room for the first four hours, and then we spent the next five hours is a private room in the emergency department. Then when there was a bed available on one of the children's floors, we were moved up to the room where we still are now. This room is much nicer than the one in the ER or the ones in the PICU because there's a bathroom in the room which has a shower I can use, and there's a couch that can be pulled out to become a bed for me to use. Thursday night I only got three hours of sleep because I went to bed at 10 PM and got up at 1 AM and was up the rest of the day. Last night I was horizontal for more hours than usual, But I got a lot less sleep than usual because Oliver's alarm was going off most of the night. On Friday during the day he was on 4 L of oxygen, but last night he was on 5 L and his saturations were still too low. The nurse who came on duty this morning at 7 AM was very helpful is doing chest PT and cleaning out his nose. Doing this greatly improved his saturation, And he was for a large part of the day on only one liter of oxygen. Then towards the evening he needed to be on 2 L and now that he's asleep he is on 3 L. They have started to decrease the frequency of his breathing treatments which were given every two hours at first. He does not have RSV this time, but rather he has human menopneumo virus. Because it's viral they discontinued the antibiotic the pediatrician had started him on on Thursday evening. They have him on a steroid. So far he has no appetite, but he is drinking apple juice, water, and chocolate milk so they did not put an IV in him.
I contacted three homeschooling moms by Facebook early on Friday morning asking if any of them could watch Nadia and in from 11:30 to 4:30 that same day. All three moms have children in the home school gym class that they are in from 10 to 11:30 on Fridays. Thankfully one mom agreed to take them home with her, and Paul was able to take the kids to gym class at 10 and pick them up at her house after his lap was done on Friday afternoon. Paul took them to their basketball games and a free Lego build at Toys "R" Us today. I was disappointed to miss not his game today because I had missed her last couple of games, and I was even sorrier to miss it when I found out that she scored her very first basket today. During her first season of basketball she never made any baskets, and during her second season she made baskets during practice but never during the games. The hoop is higher now that she's on a second and third grade team, but she was finally able to score her first basket during a game, and Paul said it was a buzzer beater no less. I am very happy for her, and I wish I had seen it in person. Hopefully she'll make another basket the season that I can witness. And her first seasons of soccer she only scored one goal. I hope that isn't the case for basketball.
Earlier today when Oliver was doing so well on 1 L and actually did well on a brief room air trial I had my hopes up that we could be discharged on Sunday, but now that he's requiring 3 L this evening I am thinking A Monday discharge is more feasible. Please pray that is discharged by Monday at the latest, because Paul teaches all day on Tuesday starting at 8 AM. Oliver really needs me to be here with him. When I stepped out to get some food from the cafetorium he is in the room by himself, and the nurses are responsible for several children at the same time. I do not think Oliver would understand the concept of pushing a button to call for a nurse when he has to go to the bathroom. It is an ordeal to take him to the bathroom because I have to disconnect four wires, and then I have to transfer his oxygen to a portable tank which I to take into the bathroom with him. I hate to see him going through all this, and I really miss Nadia and Ian because I only saw them on two of the past eight days between my trip to Maryland and now my stay in the hospital with Oliver. So I ask for prayer that Oliver will get better quickly so we can all be at home together again. I also ask for prayer for my mother who is also having some breathing difficulties.
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