After Reagan's 2 rounds of ear infections & just after she finished up her 3rd antibiotic, she woke up on a Saturday morning coughing & crying in pain. I took her to see the Dr. during Sat morning hours. He checked her out & said to give her some tylenol, TLC & time.
We went about our weekend & she got lots of rest. Throughout the weekend, she continued to cough, sore throat, spiked a fever, decreased appetite, achy, diarhhea, etc etc....we thought it was a 24 hour thing...but Monday morning she still wasn't feeling well, so I took her back to see the Dr. He was very concerned after listening to her lungs & thought she had pneumonia. He treated her in the office with a breathing treatment, then sent us home with antibiotics & a steriod. He asked us to call & report how she was feeling at 3pm & 7pm. I called at 3 & gave the report. He called back & said we should take her to Children's Hospital that he was concerned.
This was a life changing experience. I've never been to a children's hospital or ER that I remember. As I was entering the doors of the ER a father holding his 10 yr old girl runs in...she had a broken arm. I covered Reagan's car seat with a blanket...her own little tent to keep her germs in & other germs out. We waited for our beeper (like at a restaurant) to sound and waited & waited...Reagan was hungry. So, I asked if they had a mother's room...the receptionist pointed me to family room....where we met the sweetest family whose son was recently diagnosed with leukemia (i continue to pray for them)...after reagan was fed & changed I put her back in her car seat tent and parked in the hallway...we saw babies with feeding tubes, breathing tubes, kids with the stomach flu...it was really sad to see all of the sick children...all i did was pray for Reagan, and all these sick children around us & thank God for otherwise healthy children.
We were called back once for the nurses to check reagan out...then again to see the Dr., have chest xrays, and were about to be released. They wanted to check her oxygen levels one last time before we left & they were much lower than expected. They admitted us to the Rehab floor with mostly brain & spinal cord injury patients, but without many other germs since Reagan was so little they didn't want her picking up anything else during her stay. That night they did a swab to find out what she had. Since she had a cough & flu symptoms anyone in the room had to 'suit up' & wear a mask. They kept her on oxygen most of the night to keep her oxygen levels up.
Graham went to see the Dr the next day for what was going to be a follow-up for both of them since they were coughing. And, the Dr. said his lungs didn't sound so great...so he got breathing treatments & antibiotics...and wasn't coughing after a couple of days.
The next day she was visited by lots of nurses (they were truly amazing - thanks esp. to Lynn & Melissa) and Dr.'s. The results came back that she had the Human metapneumovirus (HMPV). A respiratory virus worse than RSV but not as bad as pneumonia. The Dr. said that she should stay at least 1 more day because this virus hits hard on days 4-5. Unfortunately he was right, the next day you could just tell she didn't feel well. The following day she had an awesome day & the Dr's wrote her discharge orders...however, when the Dr's came in, she had a terrible coughing fit & they suctioned the gunk from her nose & mouth...so, we were there another night. The long days/nights are all one big blur now...but it was Thursday night that she slept & the oxygen monitor did not alarm even once! So, Friday morning, the Dr's were excited & confident that she was recovering & released us to go home. YAY! We were so glad to be home & to see Graham & Daddy! I feel like all we did that weekend was sleep. The Dr's said her cough could continue for up to 1 month...ugh...but it got much better even after a week.
It was so great to be back home with the whole family. Reagan went back for a checkup that Monday morning & she sounded much better. We'd like to thank everyone for the thoughts & prayers as well as the phone calls, text messages, emails, etc.
This is already so long, but I could go on & on about how great the nurses were & all the different children & families that we saw or met...it truly was a life changing experience to spend 4 nights in a place with so many sick children..my thoughts & prayers will continue to go out for everyone there.
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