Sick Boy

On Tuesday morning August 30, 2016 around 4:30am, Leo woke up not feeling well. The whole weekend before he has been acting more clingy and wanted to nurse all weekend all, but I figured he was teething and working on his 2 year old molars...I didn't think it could be anything else. On Monday evening when I got home from work, Leo was breathing a little harder and was still clingy, had a little bit of a runny nose, but he ate a normal dinner, had a low grade fever of about 99, so we gave him Tyenol and put him to bed. He woke up once, and went to bed easily, but then when he woke up at 4:30am, he was more distraught and breathing heavily, like a pant, and had the faint hint of a crackle in his breath, which reminded me of Henry when he had pneumonia. I got him to rest some more in bed with me. We called the advice nurse and got an appointment scheduled for 3pm at his pediatrician's office. We canceled the 2nd to last day of the nanny share and called my mom for some emergency childcare. I was already planning to leave early for my own appt at noon, so I took the rest of the day off from work. My mom called around 1:30pm wondering when I would be there because Leo was not improving and he was wondering if she should take him to urgent care. I got there around 2pm and Leo was lethargic, working hard to breath, didn't even want to nurse (a big red flag in my mind) and was requesting "wawa". 

We got to his appointment right on time. They took his stats and his o2 saturation levels were at 90-92%. The pediatric resident came in and checked him out and recommended we do some nebulizer treatments. It was hard to get him to put it in his mouth, so I just held it in front of his face. We did one round with just albuterol, with no improvement and then another with albuterol and a steroid, still little improvement. The doctor let me know if he did not improve with the 2nd round, they would likely send us some where else. "Like urgent care?" I asked naively. "No, probably Doernbecher." And then I burst into tears. I had no idea how sick Leo was. The gravity of the situation started to set in. They invited the medical student in to see Leo's retractions, as he was breathing, both at his collar bone and the bottom of his sternum...a sign of respiratory distress, I now know. They said they could send me for an x-ray of him at Kaiser, but it would likely not be worth the time, since they would probably do the same thing up at OHSU. I then asked how we were going to get to OHSU, was I going to drive him? Would they call up there and alert them that we were coming? No, I would not be driving...we would be going by ambulance. And yes, they would alert them. I texted all my family to let them know what was up. My mom agreed to pick up Henry from preschool and Jon was planning to meet me at OHSU.

at the pediatrician's office after 2 nebulizer treatments, waiting for the ambulance

in the ambulance ride to OHSU Doernbecher

Big thanks to the medical student to wondered around the Kaiser parking lot, found my car and figured out how to uninstall it so we could have for the ambulance ride.

in the Doernbecher ED

Finally resting with a little extra oxygen

After a couple more nebulizer treatments, an ultrasound of his lungs and an x-ray of his lungs, we were admitted and moved to the Doernbecher hospital. It was still unclear what was really happening, it looked like some viral pneumonia (diffuse throughout the lungs), which a small patch of bacterial pneumonia in his lower right lung. It also was similar to asthma because of how quickly it set in. They were treating us from both presumptively. That night we did many nebulizer treatments and got started on IV antibiotics and fluids. I stayed with Leo that night. Jon went home to get some personal belongings for the hospital and check in with Henry, then came back with dinner for me. Jon left around midnight and brought Henry home from my parents to stay the night at home.

In the morning with rounds, they discussed further treatment for Leo. He was till lethargic and having labored breathing with retractions. They decided to try oral steroids to help open up his lungs. Within an hour of starting the steroids he started to perk up.

the next morning, with some fun new toys from Grandma Karen, Leo perks up a bit

By the afternoon, after a long restful nap, he was starting to act like himself again. He was constantly pulling of his monitors and eventually ripped out his IV...a good sign in my book. Based on his improvements, they decided we were able to be discharged that evening.

eating on his own again..."cha-cha" brownies do the trick

I was super anxious (and exhausted) to be home with a little one on verge of wellness. Jon woke up and did his inhaler with him at night and everyone got a pretty good night's rest. We woke up on Thursday morning for Leo's 2nd birthday. I took the day off, we got haircuts, went to a toy store for Henry to buy him a present, had a good nap, and then took him to his follow up with his pediatrician. She reassured us that usually when kids start to improve they stay on the same trajectory.

on his bday, home from the hospital

acting more like himself, enjoying a new toy from Nana Molly

We had an extra special 2nd birthday party/welcome home party for Leo that evening with grandparents and Ingrid and her family. We've never been more grateful to be able to celebrate his bday. From Henry's broke arm and Leo's respiratory scare, we are feeling a renewed appreciation for health!