Tuesday morning, Mikey woke up crying but you could not hear anything. It was like he was horse. I heard some congestion and called the Dr's office. They told me there is nothing they could do and no meds they could give him. They said to make sure there was a humidifier in his room. Later that evening, he was feeling hot and not acting right.
I called the Dr on call and told her what was going on. I had just checked his temp and with the ear temp checker, it ranged from 99.9-100.9. She said he needed to get checked in the morning. In the meantime, to give him infant Tylenol, and to call first thing in the morning and schedule an appointment. I went immediately out and bought the tylenol along with baby rub and stick on temp monitor.
I put it on him and it said over 100. She did mention that if at any time I felt uncomfortable or his temp gets over 101 to go to the ER. The next morning I called and made an appointment for 2:15pm.
The whole day he didn't want any bottle or his pasifer and slept most of the day. I knew something was wrong. I took him to the Dr and he was weighed and temp taken. It was 102.2. not good. The Dr came in and listened to his chest and knew he felt hot. He then consulted with my main Dr and he ordered a chest X-ray and test for flu and pneumonia. Unpon doing that, they concluded that he had pneumonia due to what they heard, saw and the X-ray wasn't very helpful. They told me they were waiting for a Dr to call back from Pitt on suggestions on what to do. This b/c nash was NOT equipped well for the specialty of children.
So, I waited and cried a little. My friend Kristy who is also a nurse came in and stood with me and let me cry on her shoulder which I greatly appreciated. The whole time I was between phone calls with mom and Thomas. Thomas was on his way home.
After a little bit, the Dr came in and told me that Pitt was sending an ambulance to pick him up and they were waiting for him. To take him to the ER since they did not pick up at a Dr's office. I drove over there panicing and shaking the ENTIRE time not knowing. They take us back and set him up, take blood, weigh him, take his temp etc. I also find out at this time he is ANEMIC and has a low blood count which attributes to his paleness.
Next thing I know, they said the HELICOPTER is on it's way and will be here in 17 minutes. Ok, even worse. They confirm that he has pneumonia and the upper part of his right lung has collapsed, yeah you heard me, COLLAPSED. I'm staying strong the ENTIRE time I was breaking down inside. They had 8 nurses at a time in there all trying to get him hooked up and booked up to prep him for Pitt. The helicopter arrives and they introduce themselves. At this time the Dr's decide to put a tube down his throat since he is struggling so bad to breathe. Needless to say my wonderful Nash general hospital took more then once to do it and cost the helicopter nurses alot of down time and it seemed to waste time. Then it was curled and they had to do it again. THe East Care nurses could have done it, but it wasn't their house, you know? SO I don't plan on going back there, ever.
They get him in the incubator and ready for take off. I say my goodbyes and go home. Luckily, the helicopters go over my house in their flight path to and from pitt so I was able to see him on his first helicopter flight even though it was VERY bad circumstances.
IT's 10:00 and we are finally at Pitt in the Pediatric ICU (PICU). He looks as he does below and they do more work on him assessing the situation. Come to find out he actually has RSV which is a virus and isn't as bad as pneumonia but could turn worse at any time. His lung was not collapsed, but the virus just blocked the airway and deflated the upper part of the lung.
I am still here and we have to wait it out. He's not ready to be weened as they tried and it didn't work well. Last night was bad.
