So I haven't blogged in forever because there's been nothing exciting to blog about. Funny how that can change on a moment's notice.
Dallin gets croup about once a year and has since he was an infant. He gets a cold or whatever and it almost immediately goes down into his chest. We know the drill and we've always been able to manage things quite well at home. Until this week. Monday he stayed home sick with cough. Tuesday he was much better so I sent him to school. Apparently that was a mistake, because Tuesday night he was up every hour or two coughing. At one point it was definitely a croupy cough, and he was having trouble breathing, though at the time we didn't realize it. We just thought he was coughing so hard and so much that he was having a hard time getting air. He didn't have the sound that I associated with stridor, so we weren't too worried, even though he was very agitated and upset and was complaining that he couldn't breathe very well. Now I look back and can't believe how stupid and naive we were. We put him in the bathroom with the shower running, and after 20 minutes of steaming he had calmed down and was doing better, so we put him back to bed. He woke up multiple times throughout the night, but things were never like they were that first time.
He missed school again on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were vacation days, and we made him stay down both days, even though he was completely stir crazy. Yesterday he was doing much better, but we still encouraged him to not get too wild. He continued to have a hacking cough and hoarse voice, but otherwise seemed fine.
Last night we put him to bed just as we would any other night. About 10:45 he awakened coughing, breathing hard and fast, and gasping for air. It was very much like the night earlier this week, but worse. And it didn't get better. He was thoroughly freaked out, gasping and crying and screaming, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I'm gonna die! I'm dying!" We still stupidly thought that if we could just get him to calm down, we'd steam him and he'd be fine. But he couldn't calm down. After a few minutes I thought he might be having an asthma attack, though I'd never seen one. He'd calm down for a minute or so, and then it would all begin again. James gave him a blessing, and immediately after the blessing was finished I felt that we should go to the emergency room. He didn't want to go at first, but then he agreed. James stayed home with Sariah, who was sound asleep, and I drove Dallin to the hospital.
It was a smart move. Within a minute or two they had him in a room and on oxygen. I found out later that James had called and told them we were coming. (At times like these, it's very nice to have your spouse actually work for the hospital you are going to.) Within five minutes I received the news that he would most likely be admitted. It's weird how you're brain works when you're the parent. This is the second time I've been completely shocked to find out that my child was about to be admitted to the hospital when I was half expecting the staff to send us home saying that I overreacted and there is nothing wrong with him.
So 3.5 hours in the ER, two shots in the rear, two attempts to insert an IV, and two breathing treatments later, with Daddy and very tired sister now in tow, we got Dallin settled into a room about 3:00 am. (I just have to interject that Dallin was extremely brave through his four miserable pokes--the staff told us that a grown man had screamed through his IV insertion just hours earlier, and here Dallin sat stoically and didn't even make a peep through two of them.)
He was wide awake by the time he actually got to his room, and pretty thrilled to find out that he could make his bed move in various positions, control the TV from his bed, and call the nurse any time he wanted to.
So we've tag-teamed sitting by his bedside all day today. Thankfully, we have family around to take Sariah. He's feeling pretty good, though tired from lack of sleep and lack of willingness to sleep. He's had the opportunity to watch SpongeBob most of the day on TV, a privilege which he never gets at home, partly because we don't get SpongeBob on our TV, and partly because Mom wouldn't let him watch it very often if we did. (From a mom's perspective, it's quite the experience to try to watch Jeffery R. Holland's amazing conference talk on the Book of Mormon on one TV while SpongeBob is blaring from another TV not five feet away....)
Dallin gets croup about once a year and has since he was an infant. He gets a cold or whatever and it almost immediately goes down into his chest. We know the drill and we've always been able to manage things quite well at home. Until this week. Monday he stayed home sick with cough. Tuesday he was much better so I sent him to school. Apparently that was a mistake, because Tuesday night he was up every hour or two coughing. At one point it was definitely a croupy cough, and he was having trouble breathing, though at the time we didn't realize it. We just thought he was coughing so hard and so much that he was having a hard time getting air. He didn't have the sound that I associated with stridor, so we weren't too worried, even though he was very agitated and upset and was complaining that he couldn't breathe very well. Now I look back and can't believe how stupid and naive we were. We put him in the bathroom with the shower running, and after 20 minutes of steaming he had calmed down and was doing better, so we put him back to bed. He woke up multiple times throughout the night, but things were never like they were that first time.
He missed school again on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were vacation days, and we made him stay down both days, even though he was completely stir crazy. Yesterday he was doing much better, but we still encouraged him to not get too wild. He continued to have a hacking cough and hoarse voice, but otherwise seemed fine.
Last night we put him to bed just as we would any other night. About 10:45 he awakened coughing, breathing hard and fast, and gasping for air. It was very much like the night earlier this week, but worse. And it didn't get better. He was thoroughly freaked out, gasping and crying and screaming, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I'm gonna die! I'm dying!" We still stupidly thought that if we could just get him to calm down, we'd steam him and he'd be fine. But he couldn't calm down. After a few minutes I thought he might be having an asthma attack, though I'd never seen one. He'd calm down for a minute or so, and then it would all begin again. James gave him a blessing, and immediately after the blessing was finished I felt that we should go to the emergency room. He didn't want to go at first, but then he agreed. James stayed home with Sariah, who was sound asleep, and I drove Dallin to the hospital.
It was a smart move. Within a minute or two they had him in a room and on oxygen. I found out later that James had called and told them we were coming. (At times like these, it's very nice to have your spouse actually work for the hospital you are going to.) Within five minutes I received the news that he would most likely be admitted. It's weird how you're brain works when you're the parent. This is the second time I've been completely shocked to find out that my child was about to be admitted to the hospital when I was half expecting the staff to send us home saying that I overreacted and there is nothing wrong with him.
So 3.5 hours in the ER, two shots in the rear, two attempts to insert an IV, and two breathing treatments later, with Daddy and very tired sister now in tow, we got Dallin settled into a room about 3:00 am. (I just have to interject that Dallin was extremely brave through his four miserable pokes--the staff told us that a grown man had screamed through his IV insertion just hours earlier, and here Dallin sat stoically and didn't even make a peep through two of them.)
He was wide awake by the time he actually got to his room, and pretty thrilled to find out that he could make his bed move in various positions, control the TV from his bed, and call the nurse any time he wanted to.
So we've tag-teamed sitting by his bedside all day today. Thankfully, we have family around to take Sariah. He's feeling pretty good, though tired from lack of sleep and lack of willingness to sleep. He's had the opportunity to watch SpongeBob most of the day on TV, a privilege which he never gets at home, partly because we don't get SpongeBob on our TV, and partly because Mom wouldn't let him watch it very often if we did. (From a mom's perspective, it's quite the experience to try to watch Jeffery R. Holland's amazing conference talk on the Book of Mormon on one TV while SpongeBob is blaring from another TV not five feet away....)
He'll be there at least until later tonight and possibly through tomorrow morning. Which means he'll miss school again tomorrow. (Darn it, I've been trying to save up his sick days in case of swine flu.) His doctor is concerned because croup this severe is quite rare in kids his age. Kids generally outgrow croup before now. Kids that get croup this old tend to be kids who have extenuating circumstances, like having been in the NICU and been intubated, having scar tissue inside that contributes to croup problems. That's not the case with Dallin. So we'll be referred to an ENT who can figure out if something else is going on.
Blessings: with James a hospital employee, our bill will be completely written off. We'll have to pay the doctor, but not the hospital. Also, I think that having his dad work at the hospital, and having been there many times to see Daddy, has made Dallin much more comfortable with the environment than he would otherwise be.
Comments
I'm assuming you'll get a referral to the ENT clinic at Primary's. We've dealt with two of the Drs there, one we loved and one we hated. Let me know if you want names so if you can request one you can find one you like.
Hope everything clears up quickly and you're home soon.
He ended up staying one more night. He did great and everyone was commenting on how he'd surely go home because he obviously didn't need to be there. Then around 7:00 pm he started coughing again, and the respiratory therapist heard stridor in his breathing, and bam, no going home. Of course an hour after they issued the order to stay, they listened again and he sounded 100% better. But stay he did.
Hopefully this morning!