We had a horrible and scary beginning of 2015. On Friday, January 2nd, I brought Crew in to the doctor because he seemed "off"-- really fussy, sleeping worse, and pulling at his ears. I wanted to make sure he wasn't getting an ear infection, so I wanted the doctor to check his ears. His ears looked great, but the doctor noticed his throat was a little red. She thought his reflux must be acting up.
Later that night he started to get a little cough. The cough got a little worse on Saturday, and on Sunday worse yet and the runny nose started. On Sunday night he hardly slept and woke every hour crying. He slept horribly with his last colds, too, so I thought it must just be another stupid cold.
Crew on Monday-- miserable.
On Monday, his cold was worse and he started to breath a little heavier. The breathing scared me, because he didn't breath heavily with his other colds. Through the night on Monday he continued to breath heavily and began wheezing. He also had a little higher temp of about 99.5. Knowing this didn't seem like a regular cold, I called the nurse on Tuesday morning and she recommended I bring him in right away.
We brought Crew to the walk-in. The doctor looked him over. He had a higher fever of 101.4, his respiratory rate was high, and his oxygen level was lower than normal. The walk-in doctor suspected pneumonia, and sent us to the ER.
Crew and Daddy at the ER
Feeling a little better at the ER
While at the ER, they monitored his breathing and Oxygen levels, and gave him a nebulizer treatment with albuterol. They did an x-ray to check for pneumonia and tested for flu and RSV. The X-ray looked okay, though they said there was an area that looked questionable, and both tests came back negative. Crew appeared to be breathing better and seemed in better spirits. The doctor figured it was a bad cold and sent us home with a prescription for a nebulizer and albuterol to give him treatments at home.
After returning home, Crew's spirits quickly turned around. We did the nebulizer treatments, but they didn't seem to help. He cried the entire night until bedtime. That night I slept on his floor, and his breathing only got worse. I was really worried and did not get a lot of sleep that night.
In the morning his breathing was getting much heavier and his wheezing louder. His cough was absolutely horrible. I called the nurse again and they made an appointment for a follow-up with his doctor, Dr. Mary Wendling (who is amazing by the way). While there, they checked his respiratory rate, which was about 60 breaths per minute, and also monitored his oxygen levels. When we first arrived his oxygen levels were around 93, which is low, but not dangerously low. As we were waiting for Dr. Wendling, he fell asleep. When he was asleep, his levels dropped to 87. At that point, Dr. Wending ordered oxygen and x-rays (which looked good), and said he would be need to be checked into the hospital for oxygen.
At that point, I was a wreck, but trying to hold it together for my little boy. I can't explain how horrible it felt to see him miserable and hurting, and not be able to do anything to make it better. Jeremy got off of work and met us at the hospital. They told us he would need to be in the hospital until his oxygen levels stayed at a normal level for 24 hours after his oxygen was taken off. He was given an IV for fluids, as he wasn't breastfeeding at all. The ladies who did his IV did a great job and it went very quickly. He was given nebulizer treatments every two hours while there. Dr. Mary said he had bronchiolitis, which is a narrowing of the airways caused by a virus.
Crew that day after getting checked into his hospital room. Is this not the most heartbreaking picture ever?
He slept better in upright in his carseat
That night, Crew was breathing and retracting so heavily (see the video below) that the doctor was scared he would begin to tucker out from working so hard to breath. She ordered a blood gas test and said he may need to be transferred to the Marshfield PICU where they have the equipment and care needed should he take a turn for the worst. His blood gas levels came back within the normal range, so Dr. Mary decided to have him stay at Aspirus and see how he was doing the next day.
The next day he remained about the same and they ordered another blood gas test. It came back lower, and at that point, they decided he should be transferred to St. Joseph's PICU in Marshfield. He was taken there by ambulance. I rode with him and Daddy followed behind.
When we got to Marshfield, they checked him over. The doctor there ordered another test, which was more comprehensive than the one done at the ER. The test came back positive for RSV. RSV is basically a really, really, bad cold. It's common in children, though most are not hospitalized because of it. The doctor said the albuterol treatments he was getting at Aspirus have been shown to not be effective as previously thought, and she said with RSV, you basically have to just ride it out until better. He was put on a different oxygen machine called Vaoptherm. It added moisture to the oxygen, and nurses did assessments on him every two hours. They did a lot of nose suction, which he absolutely hated, but it really helped. He would go in waves-- better and then worse, better and then worse. He was pretty beat and mostly slept the entire time.
Crew after getting to Marshfield
Crew after getting his food tube in. Nursing used up too much energy for him. He was able to be fed my breastmilk through the tube, which was good.
Crew and Daddy. It was hard to hold him with all the tubes and cords attached to him.
Finally on Friday night, out of nowhere, Crew sat up for a little while and wanted to play!
He loved this driving toy a nurse brought for him to play with.
We were so happy to finally see him in better spirits!
He started doing better with nursing too!
On Saturday at 1:00 in the afternoon they took him off his oxygen and his levels stayed great. At one time on Saturday night they dropped to the high 80s, then he would cough and they'd go back up to the mid-90s. On Sunday he looked and was doing so great. The doctor said we could go home!! We were SOOO happy!
This picture was taken on Sunday morning. He looked so much better!
Finally time to go home!
This experience was, by far, the worst we've been through. The doctor said we have to be really careful with him for the rest of the cold and flu season, as he will be more susceptible to bronchiolitis now, having had it before. Two weeks later, Crew is doing great! The cough is gone and he is as healthy as a horse and as happy as a clam! We are so thankful for the prayers sent up for Crew from our family and friends. We felt so much love from everyone. Thank you all so much!
On December 28, we celebrated the last of our family Christmases in Crivitz with our Sherman family! Iceman and Diane recently remodeled their kitchen and it looks amazing! We loved seeing everyone. Layla and Maya were so fun to see and play with!
Crew checking out the train! He was a little scared of it at first.
Layla and Crew!
Peek-a-boo time!
Thank you hugs from Gamma D.
We got the girls a growth ruler!
Grandpa Ice made Crew the coolest block wagon! He gave Crew the blocks his dad gave to him when he was small. :)
