We are back home tonight after spending three days in Ft. Worth at Cook Children's. We went down to FW on Sunday because it was my sister's birthday and also because Whitney had an appointment with her plastic surgeon about scheduling her cleft palate surgery on Monday. So, we decided to stay Sunday night with my sister and brother-in-law and took all the kiddos with us.
After Whitney's appointment at 2pm we decided to do a little shopping and then went to eat at a restaurant (Joe T. Garcia's) in downtown FW before heading back to Abilene. While we were at the restaurant Whitney started coughing and sniffling. By the time we got in the car, she was struggling so much that we assumed she was having some sort of allergic reaction because it came on so suddenly and she was gagging and struggling to breathe. So, since we were in the area and scared to get back on the highway for two to three hours with her doing this, we drove back to Cook's ER. I walked in with Whit while Jason and the boys found a parking place. When we checked in at triage, they immediately took Whit back even with a whole waiting room filled with other kids. They could tell she was having a hard time breathing and after hearing about all her other health issues, I guess they decided she didn't need to wait her turn! Thankfully, they took her into a procedure room and immediately there were about 10 nurses and doctors in the room suctioning her and undressing her and whatever else they do! It all went so fast. They took a sample of her mucous to test for RSV and within a few minutes they were able to tell me that she was RSV positive. This all happened before Jason and the boys even got to the ER!
To make a long story short (er), they decided that she should be evaluated overnight since she had such a hard time breathing and because her other issues and cleft palate specifically were causing the RSV symptoms to be worse. They put her on some breathing treatments and watched her overnight. The next day the doctor told us that he wanted to keep her another night because he didn't want to send us home when she was still needing "professional suctioning." So, we were released today at about 1pm and drove back to Abilene. Oh, by the way, the boys stayed with my mom in Dallas Monday night and Tuesday, then Jason drove them to Eastland to meet up with his parents Tuesday night so Hunter and Chase could get back to school. Bless their hearts, they are exhausted from all the back and forth! And to top it off, Ryder is sick with apparently the same thing, but not having as much trouble as Whit. He started with a stomach thing last week and now it's the respiratory crud.
I will be taking Whit and Ryder to see their Pediatrician in the morning here in Abilene. I'm afraid that Whit may be getting worse. She has now developed a fever and is struggling again. They sent us home with no meds and no breathing treatments! However, I luckily had some Xopenex left over from one of the boys' previous illnesses and we own a nebulizer (although I think it's on its last limb). So, we were able to give her a breathing treatment at home tonight which helped some, but she's still having a hard time. I'll keep you posted on how she and Ryder are doing. Thanks for keeping up with us.
Christmastime 2014
11 years ago
