Four-CHEN-ate!: "Fun" with RSV

Almost two weeks ago Lainey had a pretty bad cold. No fever but it was clear she didn't feel well. She didn't missed school but I did have her skip gymnastics and take a few naps that week. She said 25% of her class was absent that week so clearly this bug had been shared amongst friends.

Well, about 3-4 days after Lainey got sick Carson started sneezing. This was quickly follow with a cough and high fevers. After four days of a bad, bad cough and fevers spiking up to 105 I decided to take him into the ER to make sure he didn't have pneumonia. (Sunday)   At that point he was still drinking fluids but hadn't eaten anything for 4 days. They tested him for RSV/Influenza. He had RSV. Once they knew that they sent us home with Prednisone and told me to continue the albuterol nebs every 4 hours. He went to bed early, woke up with a 105 degree fever at 4 AM. Went back to sleep and woke with a fever again at 0700. He looked awful for I called the pediatrician and asked to bring him back in. They were booked full that day (as usual) and suggested I could watch him at home since he was seen the day before and fevers can last up to 10 days. Okay. So we gave him a big dose of tylenol and ibuprofen and hoped for the best. I took Erik and Lainey on a walk to a local playground. About 2 hours later Victor texted me and let me know Carson was back up to 105.

The second I walked into the door it was quite obvious he needed to be admitted to the hospital. He was glassy eyed and delirious. He hadn't ate or drank anything that morning and could barely sit up. So I called the pediatrician back explaining that he looked awful and they let me bring him in right away.

His pulse ox was only 85% awake (well as awake as he got at that point). The day before it had been 93-94%. So they gave him another nebulizer treatment. It improved temporarily but within 20 minutes was back in the mid 80's. So they started him on oxygen in the office and call the in-house pediatrician letting them know he needed a bed in the hospital.

Once in the hospital an IV was started. He was so sick he barely flinched. Thankfully the doctor got the IV in on the first try.   They ordered an x-ray, blood cultures, and lab work. The blood work looked okay. His x-ray showed bilateral pneumonia (likely viral). They started him on IV antibiotics and oxygen as well. After 18 hours on oxygen he was able to maintain 90-93% Oxygen saturation on room air so they stopped it.   He was still completely lethargic and unable to tolerate po intake. He spiked up fevers for a total of 7 days. His fever broke on Wednesday afternoon. After that he seemed to wake up, his O2 sats jumped to 100% (had been 93 for the 24 hours prior), and he ate 1/2 a sandwich and drank some juice. So we were able to go home Wednesday evening, approx. 60 hours after being admitted.

We are now 10 days from the start of his RSV journey. He is still sleeping about 15 hours a day (down from 20-21 hours a day) which is more than normal. He is sad to be left alone at all, which isn't normal. But he is probably about 70% back to normal.

We received good care at our small town hospital. This adventure reminded me how thankful we should be for modern day medicine. Once Carson was admitted I immediately relaxed because I knew he was getting the help he needed. If he had gone much longer without IV fluids or oxygen I am certain his other systems would have started shutting down. Thankfully, help was available to us when he needed it!

I am planning to take Carson to a pulmonologist to see if he should be on daily preventative asthma medicine as this is his third case of terrible bronchiolitis/pneumonia. 2nd admission (Although one of those was canceled after they watched him for 12 hours in the ER) and 2nd course of prednisone.   I'm afraid Carson and Erik both inherited my crappy lungs. I have had pneumonia repeatedly throughout my life, both as a kid and adult. Not fun at all! So sorry boys!

I am thankful my happy little boy seems to be returning and am praying germs leave our house alone for a while!!