So, I’ve taken quite a bit of a hiatus from here, but for good reason.
Two weeks ago, LN came down sick. He rapidly declined. Now, he’s the kid that usually is pinging off the walls even as he is throwing up. Not the case this time. So I took him into the doctor. The nurse said she’d test him for the flu, and I asked if she’d test for RSV. Sure enough, he came back positive for RSV. This is highly unusual in a 6 year old. By this age, you usually would see just a cold, but he was very sick. And I knew that if he had it, it was only a matter of time before the rest got it.
When I got back from the doctor, I found out that LK started throwing up while I was gone. She also rapidly declined and was diagnosed with RSV on Monday. Her oxygen levels were not great, and she was retracting (working hard to breathe, nostrils flaring, stomach sucking in under the ribs). So she was sent home on oxygen. Thank God we had the option of treating at home. In the past, when the kids get that sick, they are admitted to the hospital.
Soon after, LE got sick. She was also showing low oxygen levels and retractions, so she ended up on oxygen as well. We had a follow up on Wednesday with the pediatrician (the day before Thanksgiving) to check on the babies. Doc checked their ears as well, since ear infections and RSV often go hand in hand. Both girls were cleared. LK was looking better, feeling well enough to walk around and chatter at everyone.
LB was coughing and running a fever as well. I did not take her in, as the signs of RSV were obvious and, as an asthmatic, we have everything we need to treat her at home. So we put her asthma action plan to use and it helped her breathing and let her rest.
Thanksgiving went well. We all had the chance to sit down as a family and enjoy our dinner together. The kiddos were all feeling better. It was wonderful!
Friday morning, LK wakes up puking. She’s running a fever again. Just overall miserable. I put in a call to her pediatrician’s office (her ped was on call for the weekend) and update them. I mention that if she had just stayed sick, I wouldn’t be concerned, but she had been improving and suddenly crashed again. I was told a message would be sent through to the ped and we’d hear back within 45 minutes. 5 minutes later, the Children’s Hospital calls. They tell me to take her to the ER and get her checked out. So off we go.
Plot twist: If you recall, I have two kids on oxygen. However, we only have one regulator for the portable oxygen tanks. This isn’t a problem at home, as LK is hooked up to the concentrator and LE is hooked up to a portable tank. This IS a problem if I have to take them both somewhere, as in the ER.
So I call ahead to the ER, they know we’re coming and they know I need oxygen. They get us in the back pretty quick. They leave LK on room air to see how she’s doing (not great at all). Then we find out she has an ear infection. They prescribe her an antibiotic.
Plot Twist: LK had c diff a year ago. C diff is caused by antibiotic use. After getting c diff once, you are much more likely to get it again. I brought this up with her ER doctor, who said that we have to treat the ear infection or it could turn into meningitis or another severe infection. So we’re keeping our eyes (and noses….c diff smells awful) out to make sure if she does develop it again we catch it early.
Over the weekend, the kids improved. LB went to school on Monday, LN went to school on Tuesday (he doesn’t have school on Mondays). The babies got checked yesterday and doc thinks we can get them off the oxygen tomorrow. We lowered their intake to about half of what they were on. All was well in the world.
Or so we thought……..
This morning, LB woke me up around 6 am in tears because she’d thrown up. Ok, one kid not going to school. LN was eating breakfast and told me his head and tummy hurt, but I brushed it off. He often will say things to match his sister and he looked fine. He finishes his breakfast and goes to the pantry to grab his school snacks. Suddenly he turns around, walks towards me and vomits all over the kitchen. His face went from healthy looking to pale and clammy in no time at all. Meanwhile, I’m trying to throw the dog outside since she wants to stand directly under him and he’s puking, and LK is yelling from the other side of the baby gate because we won’t let her come into the kitchen to play in the vomit.
*sigh*
As the great Douglas Adams once said:
This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays