Life is full of surprises and challenges. And they don't always time themselves in the best way.
Hazen started getting sick on the second day that school started this year. It seemed like a regular old cough, but it turned kind of ugly, quickly. By Saturday, he sounded croupy and wheezy (but now I know the technical term for his sounds is strider), but did not have a fever. So, we went ahead with business as usual (going on a hike, attending a few parties.......), but did consult Dr. Parker about his condition and contagiousness and he said it sounded like a version of a virus floating around and if we were outside, we shouldn't worry about him being contagious.
By Monday, Hazen had a fever. Because of his history of ear infections, we brought him in to see Dr. Parker on Tuesday. He checked his ears and lungs and said they were both clear. But, his fever didn't go away-- though it wasn't all that high. By Friday, the fever was still persisting and I kept him home from day care to bring him to the doctor (I had called again on Thursday, but they said this "virus" lingers for 9-10 days, but if he still had a fever on Friday I should bring him in). At this appointment, Dr. Parker confirmed what I suspected, that Hazen had pneumonia. We got him on amoxycillian right away and hoped for the best.
Dr. Parker had warned us that his temperature might spike a day or two after taking the antibiotic as a result of the bacteria dying off and the body responding. So, when he got a fever of 102.5 on Saturday evening, we didn't think that much of it. However, when he got up 4 or 5 times that night fussing, I had a sense that something was wrong. By Sunday I mentioned to John that he seemed to have really fast respirations. I looked up what a toddler's respirations should be (20-30/min) and a list of signs of respiration difficulty (flared nostrils, discolored skin, and muscle retraction in his ribs). I never could get a watch out and count his breathing rate as he squirmed around and/or Cally was around, but I did check the other signs and felt like he checked out all right. Also, during the day he didn't seem that off. He was playing, a bit clingy, but otherwise seemed all right.
He slept through the night on Sunday, but still had a fever. I finally took the time to count his respirations while he lay on my chest and he was at 48/min. We immediately called Dr. Parker and he asked us to come into the office once he returned from rounds at the hospital. I went off to school for the morning and the plan was for John to take Hazey to the doctor and I'd come home after teaching at 11:30.
I got a call in my classroom at 10:20 from John saying that he was on the way to the hospital. Dr. Parker wanted him to get a chest x-ray and a pulse oximeter reading. His reading at the office was in the mid 80's and he wasn't comfortable with that. He mentioned that there was a chance Hazen would be admitted to the hospital.
My heart sank. I was in the middle of teaching a class and I couldn't be there anymore. I immediately called for a sub and then ran to the new technology integration specialist and asked him to take over my class (because a sub wouldn't necessarily know a thing about Google docs and all that).
All I wanted was to be there for Mr. H. I felt so horrible for not realizing he was struggling to get oxygen all weekend. I just wanted to turn back time.
Of course, I arrived at radiology to find a happy little guy running around and playing with John, as if nothing was wrong......... We got an x-ray, which didn't reveal a whole lot, and then headed to the ER because that is the only place in the hospital to get a pulse oximeter reading. Sure enough, he was still in the 80's and no one likes to see that. "They" want it above 90.
Hazen was given a dose of albuterol with a nebulizer. They hoped that the steroid would open his bronchi and that would be the end of it. Besides freaking him out in a way I'd never seen him freak out, it did nothing. So from that point further, we had to get oxygen into him using a mask (which he hated). Becasue he wasn't able to keep is oxygen up, he earned himself a night in the Pediatric ward. This also meant he had to get an IV put in (for fluids and antibiotics).
The Vermont Children's Hospital is an amazing place. The nurses, doctors, medical students, residents, social workers and volunteers do a wonderful job making you feel as comfortable as you can while you are there. We were only there for 24 hours, but I really appreciated everything about that place.
Don't get me wrong, it certainly was not comfortable or fun. Hazen had to sleep in a crib that was more like a cage-- with a nasal cannula tube, and IV tube, and a monitor stuck to his toe. I got to sleep on the red chair pictured above, but turned into a cot. The lighting is awful and the temperature is always wrong. But these people who work there made it all that much more tolerable.
