Sunday, June 07, 2009

Pneumonia

So, it's been awhile; but all this time in the hospital has given me the perfect opportunity to post. Rewind to Friday night, we had friends over to celebrate the birth of our good friends Leslie and Matt. We're watching the game, eating tacos, and everything seems completely normal.

Trace was giddy to have so many people over and someone to share his toys with. The kids are running inside and out and from one activity to the next. He's happy as can be eating his cupcake near the end of the night, then out of nowhere starts whining. I thought surely he's just tired; he's been running on empty. Then I notice his whimpering. I take him into the room so I can hear him better and his chest is caving in and out with every breath.

My first thought was that he's got something stuck in his throat. We gave him something to drink, still no change. I called the nurse; but it's Friday night, so I leave a message with the answering service. After second opinions from a few friends, we decide not to wait and head for the ER. Thankfully, they saw us right away and said because he was laboring so hard to breathe that they were treating him as "asthmatic". However, they don't diagnose asthma until 2 and after repeat attacks. They start him on breathing treatments, and we immediately see some improvement.

Later they gave him a steroid and did chest x-rays just to be safe. At this point they say they want to go ahead and admit him to the hospital for overnight monitoring, and we're just waiting on a room. We're all exhausted, but can't sleep cause they come in for one thing or another every 10 minutes. Then the doctor comes in after examining Trace's x-rays and tells us that he has pneumonia. This shook me up a little. I was calm as a cucumber up to this point, and for some reason the term "pneumonia" made me weary. But the Lord was quick to put my fears and worries to rest and reassured me that Trace was going to be okay.

We finally got in a room and got to sleep around 4 AM. The next morning we got to see Dr. Bankston and she agreed we should stay at least until Sunday for treatment/monitoring. Trace was acting and feeling great that same day. The hardest part was keeping him in the room, since he couldn't really go out and mingle with the other kids in the play area. But he had lots of brave visitors who were secure enough in their immune system to come by and hangout for awhile. This was a great distraction for him and us.

Thankfully, we got to come home today (Sunday) and we'll see Dr. Bankston tomorrow morning for a follow up. They sent us home with a nebulizer (sp?) aka breathing machine, and Trace does it all by himself! He's also on antibiotics/steroids which seem to be working really well. He's been such a trooper and surprisingly cooperative through this whole ordeal. But we survived our first hospital stay and hopefully won't have any more of these for quite awhile! Thanks for all the much needed prayers. We really appreciate all of you.

Here are some pics...of course. :)
Trace eating his first "hospital food" and watching Mickey Mouse.
Trace playing with his balloons.
Trace doing his "breavin" and watching "Blue's Clues"!

1 comment:

reynersonfamily said...

Sweet baby boy! I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Pray for strength for yall during this time! It can be emotionally tough on you as parents seeing your child sick! Love yall and can't wait to see him all better!