We drove home this morning. We were not as rushed as we initially thought we would be because Cohen had a fairly good night. His cough did not seem as bad this morning, and his temp was acceptable. His breathing was not labored and he seemed to be feeling better. We thought maybe, just maybe, the ER doc at Bonner General was right and all Cohen had was a cold. As usual though, we let Cohen do the dictating, and if at any moment he seems to be getting worse we would take him to Gritman. By the time we got home, though, Cohen seemed to be doing worse. His fever was at 103.5 and he was fairly lethargic. The cough was back with a vengeance and he wasn’t eating. I checked his O2 sats at home (yup, we have a portable O2 monitor at home), and they were in the mid 70s again. With that, John rushed him to the ER.
As John tells it, Gritman didn’t waste a second. As soon as the triage nurse saw that it was Cohen and that his O2 sats were in the 70s, he was whisked into a room and put on oxygen. Soon after, the ER doc informed John that Cohen’s chest xray from yesterday indicated RSV, and with Cohen’s history, he wasn’t going to take any chances. One phone call and a visit from a doctor from his primary care doctor’s group, and Cohen was being admitted to Gritman. This time he needed IV and oxygen therapy.
I relieved John of his hospital duties, and assumed my role of Cohen’s roommate. The doctor who admitted Cohen came to see him at about 10:30pm. It was Dr. Lawrence. This was our first experience with Dr. Lawrence, and I’ve only ever seen her at the daycare as her son is in Cohen’s class. However, let me just say, she is hysterical. She walked right into the room and said “So this is the infamous Cohen.” I apologized for dragging her into town (she lives outside of town)…and she took one look at my Idaho Law sweatshirt and said “Yeah, well, paybacks are a bitch. You never know when you’ll need a lawyer!” I was dying. We spent the next hour chatting about everything from the random and “unique” names of kids in the boys’ class, to my experience parenting a preemie, and everything in between. Normally, she is very intimidating but after spending some time with her, I now see that she is totally down to earth and very easy to talk to. Cohen was very comfortable with her and I was totally impressed with her care. Thank goodness for MFM and their amazing doctors!
It looks like Cohen will go home tomorrow afternoon, as soon as his O2 sats stabilize. He is getting steroid breathing treatments and IV fluids until then, and that should do the trick. The most annoying part of this whole ordeal is this: Cohen has been receiving the Synagis vaccine for two years. Synagis is a vaccine given to premature infants or babies with lung problems and it prevents contracting RSV. As mentioned in an earlier NICU posts, RSV can be fatal to premature babies. Because Cohen was born in February ‘09, he was eligible to get the vaccine until May ’09. RSV season is usually Nov/Dec and runs through May. Babies born prematurely can receive an extra year of synagis, if they meet certain requirements. Cohen was born 1 week too late and did not qualify for his insurance to pay for the additional year of synagis. However, thankfully my mom was able to get the vaccine from the manufacturer and Cohen received the vaccine monthly, from December until his last shot at the beginning of May. So, you can see how annoying it is that he would contract RSV at the end of May…his very first opportunity to do so and not be covered by the vaccine! This just goes to show how weak his lungs are and why we err on the side of caution when taking him to the doctor/ER.
(Pretty please, take this off my arm!!)
(Again! I'm in the "cage" again?!)
(I'm starting to feel a little better...)
(What? You make faces at me, I make faces at you...)
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