I cannot believe how quickly the summer has gone and passed us by. Gone are the days of no suctioning, no fevers and easy nights. Hello to sleepless nights, spiking fevers and suctioning.
I thought the pebbles that Wyatt had swallowed back at the end of August was hard on us, but this virus... has been kicking all of our butts. Every person in our house has caught it, except for the dog. And I'm pretty sure if it was contagious from humans to animals, she would have already caught it! The pebble incident, albeit serious in nature, (he could have lost his airway at any moment), was in the end a very short stay at CHEO. We were admitted at 6 pm on a Thursday night and we were discharged by 12 pm on Friday. Wyatt had to go in for an emergency intubation, so his anesthesiologist, Dr. Corvo, could remove one tiny little pebble lying against his vocal cords. Do you know what sits right in front of your vocal cords? Your wind pipes. That is why the pebble incident was so dangerous. At any given moment, Wyatt could have lost his airway. For more details on this day, please jump to Wyatt's Anesthesiologist's page.
What I'm trying to get at here, is that although the Pebble Incident was incredibly stressful, it was short lived. This virus though, has left me stressed out, sick, exhausted and it's just the beginning of the virus season. Do you know when CHEO typically starts seeing the Enterovirus 68? Usually in January-February, and yes, they may get a few cases here and there beforehand, but an outbreak?? Unlikely, you'd think. Right now, CHEO has several cases of the virus, and the testing only began last week. The good news is that the virus is only dangerous for those who are under the age of 5, and/or have asthma.
Did I mention I have three children under the age of 5, two of them having asthma?
And it's just the beginning of the virus season. Oie.
Aila has been sick since the first day of school, and Jude... two days after school started, he started showing signs of coming down with a cold. Coughing, fever, runny nose and the like. Wyatt was admitted to CHEO for a severe ear infection during this period of their colds, so it's unlikely they had the same thing. But now...now, all of their symptoms are the same, and have occured staggartly. One child became more ill after the other. My daughter, she's now going week 4 of being in school, and is just now showing signs of getting better. Our middle child is still coughing, but at least it's not all day long - like his mother. And poor little Wyatt, is in the hospital, getting a chest xray. He's been off and on febrile for the last week, coughing during the night (which in turn makes his O2 drop, and heart rate increase), and isn't tolerating his feeds.
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| Notice Wyatt's eyebrows are raised in that "surprised" look of his. He's in need of an adjustment! |
Last night for instance, I was up with him from 10:00 pm to 5:30 am, and my only goal was to make him comfortable. His heart rate was high, he was sitting at 150 by 1 am. His O2 fluctuated from 88 to 94%, so his monitor was going off every 15 minutes or so. Once his O2 dropped I would suction, and reposition. This would help him settle for about 15 minutes, and then he would drop again. Every time he would drop, his heart rate would increase, (because he's working harder to breath), so it was a stressful night! By the time I handed him over to dad, (5:30 am), his heart rate was at 140, and 91% for O2. By 7:30, when we were leaving for CHEO, he was at 175, and 88%. So...I guess it's a good thing he's where he is. He'll be safe there, and they have the proper equipment to take care of him. And for those of you who are wondering what his norm is: while sleeping, Wyatt's heart rate should be between 95-115, and when awake 120-140. His O2 should always be between 98-100%.
I have nursing care, but it's not on a full time basis. I'm thinking now Wyatt's care needs to be re-assessed.
What do you think? Do you think it's safe for mom to go without sleep a couple of days in a row?
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