Amelia started getting some post-nasal drip and a cough Saturday before last and I thought it was going to be a week and it would pass just all the other times. However, it kept lingering and getting worse. Last Thursday I noticed she was getting dusky so I pulled out the oxygen monitor that I had unplugged and hidden away on a top shelf -- and sure enough, her satts were down to 85! I put her on oxygen and gave her some Benadryl and she got sleepy. That was good because she was not liking the cannula in her nose and would not leave it alone. I started getting very nervous and called her pediatrician to make an emergency appointment.
Once at the pediatrician's office she thought it might be all upper respiratory, but ordered a chest x-ray just in case. I was not prepared for this and ended up having to carry Amelia who had no shoes on, my purse and an oxygen tank across a very large parking lot to go from the doctor's office to the hospital's outpatient imaging lab. Despite her distressed state she still had some energy and I was constantly chasing her down while I schlepped her equipment and filled out paperwork. They took her x-ray late Thursday afternoon and we got home right around rush hour. I was relieved to be home with her in a more controlled environment, but pretty scared because I had no answers and no plan of action.
I got home and put A. in bed immediately and put her on the pulseox. She was still satting 85. The pediatrician called and thought it looked like a viral infection on the x-ray. She didn't really want to do anything without the say so of the pulmonologist who really has been coordinating and heading up her care. She told me as long as Amelia was stable on the oxygen and not getting worse and she was comfortable, to just let her sleep and she would talk to the pulmonologist in the morning to figure out next steps.
I never wanted her to go back to the cannula and had a mini-nervous breakdown because I was home alone and was letting worse case scenarios play out in my head. Luckily, it wasn't too much longer when Todd came back home and tried to cheer me up.
Friday morning it was determined that the pulmonologist did not have office hours that day and that he would only be able to see us at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital ER. I quickly prepared an overnight bag for me and Amelia, and then Todd, Amelia and I got in the car and drove down there. I was convinced she had RSV or pneumonia and that she would have to stay in the hospital for at least a week to recover. I was convinced that she would get weaker and need to be intubated.
At the ER they suctioned her out and it was copious and thick and yellow. Definitely difficult to breathe around that. They gave her a nebulizer treatment of bronchodialater to open her lungs and the steroid dexamethasone for any lung inflammation. They gave her a nasal swab to test for RSV and the results came back negative.
We eventually met the pulmonologist team late in the afternoon. They said they could hear crackling in her lower right lobe of her lungs, which indicated a bit of fluid. By the time Amelia saw them, she had had the above mentioned interventions and she was acting pretty peppy. The doctor told us she was borderline. They could either release her or keep her overnight for observation. We opted for caring for her ourselves at home. He told us that most viral infections run their course over 14 days and that since she was at Day 7, he would expect that to be the very worst day and that from here on, she should stabilize and get better. We were to call if her oxygen requirement went up.
We were sent home with instructions to give her percussive therapy two or three times a day followed by an albuterol treatment. She got a "Z" pack to fight off any bacterial infections she may have acquired in her weakened state and some nose drops to dry up her secretions. She also got an order for a suction machine which I LOVE and she hates!
After Day 1 of her meds, it was like a miracle. She was able to get off of daytime oxygen and now we are giving her about half a liter at night while she sleeps. She is playful and full of energy. Her color looks good and she is wanting to eat again. She had completely stopped. I also was sick during this time and my aunt was kind enough to come over and watch her while I went to the emergency clinic and got meds for my sinus infection. Now we are both almost as good as new.
During all of this, I have kept her out of therapy and school. It will be two weeks since she has attended and I think we are both getting a stir crazy. I think we will resume therapy on Friday and school on Tuesday. Please pray we manage to stay healthy this winter season. I am not sure I can take the drama of another "common cold."
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