Caleb's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

If you recall, from Tuesday's post, Caleb had been to the doctor and prescribed some home breathing treatments with a nebulizer. All seemed to be going well on Tuesday evening. A few hours after he went to bed, though, Caleb awoke, screaming. Like. A. Banshee. We brought him into our room and noticed he was, shall we say, warm. Being conscientious parents, we took his temperature: 104.4! Through judicious use of Tylenol, Motrin, wet washcloths, and near-nakedness, we were able to get that down to 102.2.

Needless to say, Wednesday morning brought Caleb's second trip to the doctor in just over twenty-four hours. On this visit, the doctor noted Caleb's breathing was retracted, meaning he was inhaling so deeply, it was causing the skin to pull in ("retract") around his ribs. Hmmm, our little guy was sicker than anyone thought. The doctor sent us next door to the ER to get a chest x-ray.

While in the ER, they suctioned a bunch of gunk out of his airway. They also monitored his oxygen saturation level, which should be above 90 percent. Unassisted, Caleb's was in the high 80's. Caleb does not like having a cannula in his nose.

Once they decided to admit Caleb to the hospital overnight, they tried to start an IV so they could give him antibiotics. They settled on the IV because otherwise the dosage would require two shots. It turns out that Caleb's pudgy little hands and arms make it difficult, nay, impossible, to do things like find a vein and start an IV. They were diligent, though; they tried about six times. Then they gave up and gave him the two shots of antibiotic. (I only mention this to highlight Caleb's misery, not to disparage the hospital staff. They were excellent in every respect).

The official diagnosis is bronchiolitis, though Caleb did test negative for RSV, which is the most common virus to cause bronchiolitis.

So, Caleb and Laura stay at the hospital Wednesday night, during which, Caleb received several more breathing treatments. When I returned on Thursday morning, Caleb was much happier; laughing and playing, and off of the oxygen. Now the trick was to keep his oxygen levels up even when he slept. Since oxygen levels naturally drop when we sleep, this is very important. He was finally able to nap for about half an hour without the oxygen sometime around four o'clock Thursday afternoon. With quick instructions for a follow-up with our doctor on Friday and a prescription for some antibiotics, Caleb was discharged shortly after five o'clock Thursday evening. Shortly after that, we were all home again!

So, we're home, still doing breathing treatments, and thankful for all the prayers sent up on our behalf. We are also thankful for the staff at the Pediatric Care Center of Montgomery General Hospital. They took care of all of us.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.