Pneumonia (again!!)

Someone needs to tell Jack that 1) spring is here so NO MORE COLDS 2) mommy already has enough gray hairs - no need to add more 3) NO MORE COLDS (did I say that already?). 1 day after we all got back from NY Anika got all snotty. We chalked it up to teething and allergies. Then I started to feel 'off' but nothing bad. By Wed our sentinel chicken (AKA, Jack) was snotty. OK, definitely something infectious going on. We figured no big deal since the girls in the house were managing OK. By Thursday Jack was coughing but was still up for an afternoon walk to the park. By Friday morning he wouldn't get out of bed. He had a rough night of coughing so I thought he was just tired. Our nanny told us he slept til 10am then had a little bit to eat and drink but asked to go back to bed. I came home at 1pm and he was still in bed and getting worse. I thought, "It's Friday, they'll probably want a chest xray - let's get in to the pediatrician before it gets too late and they send us to the hospital just for an xray." I got him an appt for 2:40. In the time between, he really started going downhill: rapid breathing, retracting and completely lethargic. By the time I got to the pediatrician he was in respiratory distress. They wanted to transfer him to the hospital by ambulance but after a breathing treatment they agreed that I could take him if we went straight there. By the time I got to the ER (15 min ride), he spiked a 102F fever and was in bad shape. The xray showed a double (viral) pneumonia with a secondary bacterial infection. They gave him intravenous antibiotics, breathing treatments and Tylenol to get the fever down. When the fever broke his breathing really improved and he was able to sit up and talk. They were going to admit him overnight but he was doing much better after several hours so they let us take him home with the promise to return the next morning to the doc's office for a check.

Today the docs said he's still wheezing a lot and they gave us more meds for him to try and open up his airways. He won't slow down. I hear him running laps downstairs. Seriously, if I had double pneumonia I'd be in bed moaning! Kids are so resilient! In a matter of 24 he went from respiratory distress to playing (albeit, with a cough).

Looking back on yesterday I wonder if it's screwed up that I wasn't in tears or anything. When I called the nanny to see if she could keep Anika, she told me she was crying when she hung up with me. Friends sent texts to me asking if I wanted them to come to the ER. Don't get me wrong, I was upset to see him so sick but it's like you just go into auto pilot and ask tons of questions and try to get the best care and stay focused. I know it's probably a good thing but, really, not so normal. I'm sure other CDH parents know what I mean.

On a final and humorous note, I knew we spent WAY TOO MUCH time in the ER this winter because the nurses recognized us!! They even remembered that Jack liked Graham crackers. Geez!!