It is official. Cohen is NOT a fan of the Super Bowl. For the second year in a row, Cohen and I spent Super Bowl Sunday in the hospital. On Friday, Cohen was diagnosed with pneumonia in the ER after having his fever spike to 104. We took him in to quick care on Thursday where he was diagnosed with bronchitis and given an antibiotic "just in case" it was really pneumonia. The next morning when his fever spiked, I took him to the ER where they did blood work and a chest x-ray...and of course, it came back as pneumonia.
The ER doc was deliberating whether or not to admit him on Friday morning, but his lab work turned out okay and he wasn't breathing fast or labored and was all around doing much better once his fever came down. Instead of admitting Cohen, the doctor gave him a shot of an antibiotic and sent him home with strict instructions to return if anything changed.
Cohen began to feel much better late afternoon on Friday. And by Saturday morning, he was doing great. No fever, no weird breathing and acting more like himself. He still had a little cold, and a nasty cough so he wasn't 100%, but it wasn't enough to keep us from cancelling his 1st Birthday Party!
The party was a hit, and Cohen had a blast. (A party post will be forthcoming) However, he started to fade a bit during presents and right before cake....but when he took his first bite of birthday cake he perked up right away. I guess that is what chocolate cake will do for you!
After the party, we went do dinner with John's family and I could tell Cohen wasn't doing so great. His fever had returned, and became really lethargic. I called the ER (like his discharge instructions said to...) and had a nasty lady tell me she couldn't give medical advice over the phone and that I would have to call his doctor. Ooookkkaaayyy....ugh. In 25 minutes I had called the doctor, received a return call, and we were off to the ER.
Of course, as luck would have it the ER was packed. The back rooms were full, and there were 6 people in front of us. We arrived at 8pm and it was 10pm before we were called back :( As with most ER visits, the first thing the aide does is get vital signs. Because this wasn't my main area of concern I hardly paid attention to what was being done. Well, that is until the aide let out a "huh" and "uhhh, I'll be right back". When I looked up I saw the oxygen saturation numbers hovering at the low to mid 80s! And it was then a flash back to the NICU days happened, and I knew immediately it wasn't good.
I will say, though, the ER doctor's response time was amazing. Maybe I've just never been to the ER during a "real" emergency, but man he came quick. (Even when Carter had meningitis, it took FOREVER to see the doctor for the first time...) He looked him over, gave him more Tylenol, and said he needed oxygen. For the most part, he thought Cohen looked pretty good for being sick. (This is because Cohen would get happy and alert anytime the doctor walked into the room, and as soon as the doctor left he would revert to acting sick...even the nasty nurse commented on it!).
The nurse hooked up the oxygen, and instead of putting the cannula in his nose, she cut off the prongs and told me to just hold the blowing oxygen in front of his face. Somehow that didn't seem effective for a baby who is now not just having low oxygen saturation, but is actually de-sating! But whatever, I obliged. Cohen, the sweet baby that he is, took the tube from me and put it in his mouth! (now that is one way to get oxygen I suppose!) At times he would take it out of his mouth and as it was blowing in his face he would blow back at it. It was super adorable and I wish I had taken a video of it.
So after about 45 minutes of that, his O2 levels did not increase. The ER doc returned and said that he was going to consult the on-call doctor at Cohen's primary care physician's office. Luckily I had already talked to her that night, and she was not surprised to be making a 11:30pm trip to the ER to see him.
Side note: Dr. Henry is probably my most favorite doctor on the palouse. She is hilarious and would totally be the boys' doctor but for her specialty being sports medicine. In all honesty though, she has probably seen Carter more times than his primary doctor because she is often the Quick Care doctor (though not the one who said Cohen simply had bronchitis...). Anyways, last summer when I brought Carter in for the like 8th time for an ear infection, she was dying of laughter about his outfit. Normally I get reactions such as "oh, how cute" and "what a great dresser" and such, but not with Dr. Henry. He was wearing plaid shorts, a colored polo shirt with is collar popped, white adidas kicks and ankle socks. She thought he looked like a little golfer and she was laughing at the thought of how much time I spent putting that outfit together (my response, none at all). It was pretty funny. We often joke about how we should get together outside of the office because we get along so well.
However, it must have been due to the late night phone call or the fact Dr. Henry hasn't ever seen Cohen but she didn't put it together that I was who she was talking to earlier in the evening. She walked in to Cohen's ER room, saw me sitting there smiling at her (in a "I'm so sorry to drag you to the hospital in the middle of the night way"), and the first thing she says is "Of course it is you!" We both laughed and she came over to examine Cohen. Now, I have to say, Cohen has a HUGE crush on Dr. Henry. As soon as she came over to him he perked right up, started smiling and really flirting with her! Here I am trying to tell her that he feels miserable and is not acting like himself, and he is totally doing the opposite. When she was looking at him she admired his adorable "Rock and Roll" onesie he was wearing, but when she saw the Ed Hardy tattoo on his arm she was like, wow you really do go all out when dressing your kids! I tried to explain to her it was from his party, but I'm not all that sure she believed me! Anyways, she agreed with the ER doc that Cohen's O2 sats were not acceptable, and she admitted him to the hospital.
2 hours and 1 shot of antibiotic later, a nurse from the Medical/Surgical floor came down to take him to a room. It was nearing 2 am at this point, and we were both exhausted! Luckily it is a private room with a hospital crib for him and a hospital bed for me. It was another 45 minutes before he was settled in for the night. I was told he was just there for observation, and would likely be released in the morning.
On Sunday morning, Dr. Henry came in to see him and was not thrilled with the sound of his lungs and the fact he still needed oxygen. So, we are in for another night. He was given another shot of an antibiotic and are planning an attempt to wean his oxygen. His primary care physician will be on tomorrow morning, so she will give us an idea of what to expect and if he is doing well could possibly discharge him tomorrow morning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment