Trip to the Emergency Room

This weekend started out with a bang!  As in a bangin' 4 hour trip to the Emergency Room at Dell Children's Hospital after being at our pediatrician's office for an hour.

Sawyer started having a wet cough on Tuesday.  I brought him to the doctor Wednesday morning.  I was told it was being caused by congestion, and his lungs sounded clear.  The doctor said if Sawyer started to sound wheezy or have difficulty breathing to bring him back.

Thursday, Sawyer sounded the same but the cough was less often.

On Friday, the tide had turned.  Sawyer woke up extremely cranky and crying.  He refused to eat, and when we finally got him to eat, it was an ordeal.  If he wasn't crying and screaming, he was sleeping.  After a couple hours, his breathing didn't sound normal.  I called the doctor and made an appointment as soon as I could.

At the pediatrician's office, the doctor was concerned about Sawyer's breathing and fever.  He had a fever of 102.2.  The doctor didn't like how his breathing sounded.  Although his lungs sounded clear, he was making a moaning and wheezing sound every time he took a breath.  He was given half of a breathing treatment with albuterol.  After the treatment and discussing possible options with the doctor, it was decided Sawyer should be taken down to Dell Children's Hospital Emergency Room to check if he had pneumonia or any other issues and complications.

While en route to the ER, I called Andrew with an update.  Since we didn't have anyone else to watch the boys at that time (it was about 3pm), he stayed at home.

I ended up staying at Dell Children's Hospital for about 4 hours.  I didn't have to wait very long to get a room, especially since my doctor called ahead for me.  The entire hospital staff were extremely nice.  Of course, I would have liked a name tag or something because everyone and their brother was calling me 'Mom' and it was just a little creepy after awhile.

The doctor ordered a flu test, chest x-ray, and a urinary tract test.  For the chest x-ray, the techs sat Sawyer in this little chair, then held his arms up while they put a tube structure around his torso to hold his arms up.  Of course, he was less than thrilled about this, and I couldn't help but laugh.  It was the most absurd looking contraption that I had to laugh.  But the x-ray turned up negative for pneumonia, so I was happy.

Sawyer ended up being diagnosed with RSV.  RSV is a nasty virus for little ones to get because it can cause so many complications.  It causes a lot of mucus and snot to be produced which clogged Sawyers entire system.  There isn't anything the doctors could do accept let the virus run its course.  They expected fever for 2-3 days, and the entire virus should be out of his system in 7-10 days.  I was extremely glad to be discharged and sent home.

Andrew and I have had a long weekend taking care of Sawyer.  I will be very glad when everyone in my household is healthy again.

On a side note, it is a completely different experience for me to be the parent in the emergency and not the person getting treated.  I had plenty of emergency room visits when I was younger.  Being on the other side of this trip, I can tell you I didn't like it.  I was worried, concerned, and still continued to keep calm so Sawyer wouldn't pick up on my concern.  Add on to that, Andrew wasn't with me, and it did not make for an experience I want to have again.

It's now Monday.  Sawyer is feeling a littler better.  We went back to our pediatrician's office this morning for a check.  The virus is progressing as expected.

As for me, exhausted doesn't even begin to cover how I feel.  Andrew and I have gotten about 4 hours of sleep every night.  We are hanging on by a thread.  I'm completely disinfecting the house.  It has been a long weekend and the week is starting to look like its going to be the same.  Prayers are needed Sawyer starts feeling better, and everyone else in our house holds up.