Another Visit to Headwaters

Tyson caught a bad head cold last weekend which developed into every symptom you can name under the sun.  Headache, sore throat, stuffy nose, cough, sore tummy, fever, fatigue, etc.  At first we thought it was just viral so we kept him home and tried to manage it with essential oils and lots of rest. 

We kept him home from school at the first sight of the infection to keep on top of it instead of trying to play catch-up like last time.  We oiled.  We flu bombed.  We used chest rub and veggie caps regularly.  We did ventolin masks and chest physio and deep breathing.
On Saturday, we realized the veggie caps were upsetting his tummy and he wasn't keeping food down.  His sats took a nose-dive, his INR sky-rocketed, and we *needed* to get something into him that would stay into him so we started him on the oral antibiotics hiding away in our kitchen cupboard, tucked him into bed, and prayed for better health in the morning.   As always, a good night's sleep can go a long way.  We continued to flu bomb and use chest rub and do everything we possibly could to keep him out of the hospital.

Sunday morning we saw some improvement and his sats were stable so we continued to try keep him at home. Monday, even more improvement and even a smile or two!  Tuesday, he was almost back to his normal self again, but still lots and lots of coughing and the O2 sats lagged behind, especially at nights.  We figured the oral antibiotics just needed more time and Tyson needed more rest (tv watching and Xbox playing) and he'd eventually get better. Even walking up a flight of stairs caused a lot of huffing and puffing, so we just kept him quiet and tried not to overwork him, just trying so hard to  avoid another hospital stay. 

Watching his Dad and siblings playing hockey on the outdoor rink is not nearly as fun as being out there himself!

I brought him in to the family doctor today because although his mood had improved and he is being his normal goofy self, the cough was still very junky-sounding and his saturations had been hovering at 80-81 for three days straight, even lower from time to time when he was too active, and especially lower overnight.  His sats have been too low for too long and there should have been more improvement by now.

O2 saturations at the doctor were 78-79 (on both his sats monitor and mine) and the doctor didn't like how his chest sounded...so he sent us off to emerg for chest xrays.

ER Dr ordered chest xrays and surprise, surprise, Tyson has pneumonia again.  Six days on oral antibiotics at home, and all the essential oils we've used did nothing but keep him from getting worse.  They allowed him to plateau but didn't kill the pneumonia.  His bloodwork was ok, INR ok again, but the ER Dr was not comfortable sending us home with just another dose of oral antibiotics.

In light of the fact that we are supposed to be leaving for our Florida vacation, I begged the Dr to just give him a bolus of IV meds, send us home, then we could come back again tonight and then again in the morning.  He did discuss it with the pediatrician but they both agreed that they rarely send a healthy child home on IV antibiotics, let alone a child with a severe heart condition.  *I tried...*

Hospital PJs are so cute!

So we are here until his sats improve and his chest sounds a lot better.  The pediatrician (Dr Oyefeso) doesn't think we'll be here for too long but didn't want to take any chances with his heart.  Having low sats like that for too long can have serious impact on his heart.  I get it.  But I just wish he could have pulled through at home.  It was not for lack of trying.

So are we still going to Florida next week?  We'll likely make it home in time....and Tyson will likely be the healthiest he's ever been in his life by the time we have to leave....
But our health insurance policy states that those with a pre-existing condition must be hospital-free for 90 days prior to departure day.  Once Tyson is well again and we are home, I will contact the insurance company to see if they will still cover Tyson because he was admitted for something unrelated to his heart condition.  Perhaps asking for a note from the pediatrician confirming this.  But who knows what they will say.  For now, we take one step at a time.  Get Tyson better and kick that pneumonia OUT!
Pneumonia, be gone!

The nurse on shift tonight just came in to give Tyson his ventolin mask and after he complied and hardly even acknowledged that she was there, she turned to me and said, "No child should ever have to be that comfortable with medical procedures."