RSV-say it ain't so

This has been a long week and I am glad to say both girls are healthy. 

On Sunday afternoon I noticed Abby wasn't herself. I checked her temp and it was 102. This totally caught me off guard because she was acting like herself all morning. Since her temp came out of no where I thought it would be good to check her oxygen level on our machine at home. To my surprise her oxygen was only 90%. Scary, scary stuff!  We were told by her Pulmonologist to not let it get lower than 94%. We gave her, her inhalers and she still wasn't able to come up. We were left with no choice but to call the ambulance.

The ambulance took her to our local Hospital. I like to say upfront that I'm not a big fan of our local small hospital because they just don't have the ability to take care of little kids. When we got there she got a chest X-ray and the attending ER doctor said that she had pneumonia. The doctor went on to say that she needed antibiotics and wanted to send her on her way home. Well being the mom I am, that wasn't good enough for me. There was no way I was going to leave with her oxygen level so low. I requested that the doctor give her Pulmo doc a call at Hopkins. She really didn't want to do that, but she did say the attending pediatrician would come and talk to me and Dan.

While we were waiting for the pediatrician a Respiratory therapist came and gave Abigail a breathing treatment. Her oxygen level didn't really improve and at this point I requested that she stay on oxygen for a while. This made me very frustrated that I actually had to request the oxygen myself and that no one else could see on the monitor that she needed it. 

Then her nurse said that she needed an IV. This is the point that I roll my eyes and begin to anticipate a fight. She attempted to put an IV in her despite my disapproval. It took Dan and I both to hold her down while the nurse tried to do her job. Abigail had a complete meltdown and screamed at the top of her lungs. There is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain and scared.  I explained to the nurse before she even started that she was extremely hard to get a successful IV in and no one at this hospital had ever got an IV in her before. She told me that she has been a nurse for 11 years (thanks for tooting your own horn) and that she could do it. Well I knew that 11 years working on adults really means absolutely nothing when you are dealing with a 2 year old Micro preemie who has had more IVs and blood transfusions than most people have in a lifetime.  Let's just say she failed and I called it.

Finally the pediatrician came and talked to me. He said that Abigail would get 2 more breathing treatments and would be sent home with antibiotics. I went ahead and started to tell the doctor all of Abigail's medical history and he started to write it all down. You could tell he started to realize that this isn't your average patient. He went ahead and ordered a test to see if she had the flu or RSV. He finally agreed with me that she needed to be sent to Hopkins where the new her.

The ambulance took about 2 hours to arrive to get her and she was finally transferred to Hopkins. Dan went along in the ambulance and I quickly ran home and got clothes and toys together because I just knew she was going to be admitted. I arrived just after the ambulance did a little after 1 AM. 

Once we got to Hopkins I immediacy felt better. The nurse got her IV in the first try and they monitored her in the ER and quickly got her admitted. The Pulmonologist on call didn't agree that she had pneumonia and thought that she had a viral infection. I wasn't at all surprised the first ER doc was wrong. Both the rapid flu and RSV test came back negative. They admitted her and put her on droplet isolation, which means anyone in her room needed a gown, gloves, and a mask. She was kept on oxygen and they began breathing treatments every 4 hours and started antibiotics a steroids.

 After 2 days I could already see a change in her and she was able to go without oxygen when she was awake. Late Tuesday night doctors told us that she indeed had RSV and that her culture grew. The course of meds would not need to change. Thank God! Despite the RSV the doctors were pleased with her recovery and of course they went on and on about how cute she is. Abigail did so well that we were able to go home Thursday night. 

She is still on her antibiotics and steroids and will need them both for a few more days. Her oxygen level is doing great at home. She is a fighter! 

Ever since we left the NICU I have been really worried that one of my girls would get RSV.  The last 2 winters the girls qualified for the RSV vaccine, but the vaccine isn't given to kids once they are 2. When the doctor said she had RSV I felt defeated, but also I expected it too. It was a strange feeling. Abigail has chronic lung disease and I always knew this could happen. I am just thankful for the wonderful doctors at Hopkins who acted quickly.

 I am also proud of myself for not letting the first ER doctor send us on our way. This is just a reminder that Dan and I are her biggest advocates and we have to fight for her. 

Thanks for all the prayers friends! 

Now the girls are together again!