Pneumonia Stress

My sweet Erik has pneumonia.  He has been struggling with high fevers and cough since Saturday August 18th.  I knew by Monday that things weren't great as he has had pneumonia before and it started the same way.

He wasn't diagnosed until Wednesday (see vent letter for more info) but has been on Augmentin since then.  Despite the Augmentin he can not seem to shake the fevers.  So stressful.

Causing additional stress is the fact that his x-ray looks crappy.  The urgent care doctor was alarmed and stressed that is was very important we get a follow up xray in 3-4 weeks.  He suggested the possibility of an underlying tumor causing the pneumonia.

The radiologist report read: large middle lobe consolidation likely secondary to pneumonia but needs follow up.  Not real great.

The ER doctor was actually reassuring but agreed that the Xray looked quite awful and he would expect Erik to appear much sicker (I have a copy of the xray that I brought with me on our ER visit). He said he would expect it to clear and reassured us.

I have finally been in contact with our real pediatrician.  She has been so kind to help me out today despite being on vacation still (a friend gave me her cell phone number).

Erik's temp tonight was still 102.6 despite being on appropriate antibiotics since Wednesday. It is possible that he has some type of viral infection in addition to bacterial pneumonia, it's possible that the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotic, it's possible that something worse is going on, or it's possible that the drugs just haven't had enough time to work.

Our doctor is going to call in new a new prescription for Erik tomorrow if (assuming) he still has a fever and we will see her Monday morning at 7:30 AM.  Of course, if he appears to be in any sort of distress before then we will go to the ER.

Feifei and Daron have been helping me through this crap this week since the doctor covering for our pediatrician refused to provide care.  They've helped my racing mind stay calm a few times although I tell you when your brother has cancer and now my baby has a large consolidation on his Xray with super high fevers going on 9 days not responding quickly to antibiotics it is very difficult to keep my mind calm.

So, I am still fully assuming at this point that this is just a crappy case of pneumonia and you should too.

 But we could use some prayers....

1)Please pray for Erik!  Specifically that his fever will break and the pneumonia will resolve completely (and quickly) and most importantly that this consolidation is nothing more than pneumonia!!!

2) For myself and Victor: that I can sleep and that we stay calm and get Erik the help that he needs

Thanks!

I'll keep you updated on Erik's progress!