Monday, March 7, 2011

Sorry I've been MIA...

but the little Boss has been ill! So ill in fact, he's been in the hospital & was actually just released this afternoon!


It's been a long two weeks. It all started with a cough, that quickly turned to congested cough & nose, then with fevers, vomitting, diarrhea, loss of interest in everything, & breathing difficulties. He has been to two doctors & now two hospitals. This last stay was longer, & scarier because he had gotten so bad. =(


Through chest x-rays, blood work, suctioning of mucus from his chest & nose(via a tube shoved down his throat & nostrils - awful to watch & have to hold your kid down for!! BTW!), swabbing of his nose, etc etc... he was diagnosed with RSV & Pneumonia. If you don't know what RSV is & you have kids.. I recommend you look into it because every kid will more than likely have it at least once by the time they're 3. &About 5,000 youngin's die from it every year.
The key is catching it early!


He had to stay under a croup tent for 3 days... which was hard because the tent was very scary to him, as you can imagine. I had to stay under there with him most of the time. He received IV fluids, antibiotics, a steroid for his lungs, breathing treatments every 4 hours, medicine in his bottle for the diaper rash that was caused by the diarrhea that was caused by the antibiotics, plus ointments for his hiney, and so on.

It was really nice to see him finally eat a little bit on Friday. Then Saturday Bubble Boy was freed from his little plastic wrap tent to see if he could make progress without it...



Which he seemed to manage just fine! =) 
We even celebrated Bubble Boy's separation from the "Bubble" with....


Bubbles, of course!!
He liked these bubbles much better! lol =)

We had visitors & had friends & family all over praying for us...which I think made a world of difference. I say this because there were 3 other kids there with the same illness(es) & TJ was the first who was well enough to go home!

So, I have to thank God for all of the people who prayed for us (even people who basically came out of the wood works - people I thought had just forgotten about me, people from high school I haven't spoke to..since high school!!, my biological father's mother who I have never even met, & so on) because with them TJ's name was heard more clearly up there & He responded promptly to answer those prayers! Amazing!! Now, he is not completely healed yet... but he is getting better & I have all the tools necessary to help continue the healing progress.

I just hope that through this blog, perhaps a mother out there reading this or a friend of a mother can become more aware & cautious as well as bring awareness to others of this virus (RSV). As the doctor said, it's a virus there is no vaccine for & it's one that can take a kid from bad to worse reeeally quickly. For example, there was a little girl who died from it last Monday here in the local community. =(
So, mommies... the weather is changing every day & this is the season for flu & RSV & other illnesses alike. Wash your hands always&often, invest in a cool mist humidifier & perch it in your kiddo's room, be aware of the signs & symptoms to look for, & don't ever hesitate to take your child to the ER or doctor if you think something may be wrong... I'd rather feel "stupid" for bringing my kid to the ER for possibly nothing than lose my little everything.

Take care!!
Hopefully a more smiley post is in my near future. =)

w/ LOVE♥





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