Scary Stuff

Monday night was one of the scariest nights of my life, but let me back up.

Saturday, we had gone to Sunapee for the day. Given that I had severe allergies whenever I was in Sunapee when I was a kid, I thought that Eliot's runny nose and other symptoms were just symptoms of his allergies (not that he had ever exhibited environmental allergies before; I just thought he must be like his Mama).

When we got home that night, I put him in the shower/bath. I thought if we cleaned him up, got all the allergens off his skin and clothes, he would feel better.

We put him to bed.

The next day, he was still having all the same symptoms (mostly nasal symptoms, watery eyes, etc.) and I wondered how long allergies last once removed from the situation. Then, the cough started. It was a productive, junky cough. He sounded awful. That's when I realized he was sick, though, I thought it was just a cold.

We put him to bed that night (Sunday night) and he woke up quite a bit. He really couldn't sleep because he was coughing so much and his nose was running like a faucet. He had a fever of about 101. I wasn't too concerned. Over the Winter, when he was sick, I took him in and assured me it was"just a virus." When he still had the same symptoms days later, I took him BACK in and they told me that his chest was clear and it was "just a virus." I have heard the "just a virus" line SO SO many times in my OWN life as well (which is why when I was sick two weeks ago with Strep C, bronchitis & sinusitis, it took me 5 days before I went to the Dr. Who wants to waste time going to the Dr. and be told (again) that it's just a virus?) So, I didn't take Eliot in either. A fever of 101 is nothing in kids.

As the day went on, I started to notice his breathing was quite fast. About an hour before Ted got home from work, I really noted to myself how odd it looked. When Ted got home, I asked him to go sit near Eliot, listen to him breathe and tell me what he thought. At this time, we could also hear a little bit of a wheeze. This is when we knew that we had to get him checked; the question was just of when.

Just then, my Mother-in-law called and she told us to call right away. We did. They told us to go to their after hours center in Boston or to the Winchester Hospital ER. All of my experiences with the ER have been wait, wait, wait, be seen, wait some more, go home and 2:00AM. However, I knew we wouldn't be able to make it to the Boston office by the time they closed. Ted and I decided to take him to the prompt care center about 20 minutes North of us.

We got there. They called his name for him to go into triage.

"You should have gone straight to the ER"

And then she called out to the area of Doctors behind her " THIS BABY IS GOING TO NEED A ROOM. HE IS RETRACTING"

I think both Ted's and my hearts sank simultaneously right then. We knew that our little guy was sick, but we didn't realize that it could be anything really serious.

They put us in a room and started him on breathing treatments.

We were waiting for the Doctor to come in and that's when things got worse. He became very pale and his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. He wouldn't even really respond to me.

I honestly thought that I was going to end up with a patient bracelet around my own wrist. Honest to God, I thought I wasn't going to make it through the night without passing out or going crazy or something. I was just so scared. Scared for my son and scared because I am scared about ANYTHING medical in the first place! Combining the two is pretty much my worst nightmare.

Nurses flooded the room. One gave him an IV while another gave him a dose of a steroid called prednizone.

They told us we were going to the Winchester Hospital ER and that the ambulance was on it's way. I could NOT believe what I was hearing. Only one of us could go into the ambulance with him and of course, it was going to be me. I had never been in an ambulance either. When they have truck day, I don't even like LOOKING in an ambulance; it gives me a panic attack. And here I was having to ride in one with my sick son.

The ambulance got there and they brought the stretcher in. They strapped in his car seat to the stretcher and they wheeled him out. (Did I mention that the EMT driver was very possibly, no, absolutely the MOST handsome man I have ever seen in my entire existence? Of course, he was driving and the other one sat back with us). We had an OK ride. Eliot was starting to become a little bit more aware at this point. He kind of thought it was cool that he was in an ambulance. When we were almost to the hospital, he asked for cake. That was pretty funny.

We got to the ER and they took him right into a room. He had several nice nurses and Doctors and Eliot was SUCH a trooper. Everyone commented on what a good boy he was. He just let them take his BP, temp, oxygen levels, etc. without so much as a fuss. One nurse had bubbles that were "magic bubbles." You could catch them on your fingers (or hair, leg, or wherever they decided to land). Ted pointed up to the vent in the ceiling and you could see them all stuck up there, haha.

Then my Mom came. I was so happy to have her there. I felt like I needed someone for Eliot and someone for me. Eliot was so happy to see "Manya." They sat in the bed together and read stories. She also brought him some of his favorite snacks (yogurt melts) which he ate as well. (Which was so nice because he hadn't eaten all day).

We went for a chest x-ray and went back to the room to wait some more. The x-ray was pretty much clear (no pneumonia like they had first thought), but his breathing was still quite rapid so they wanted to admit him.

I snuck home to take a shower and by the time I got back, Eliot was in his own room (waiting for me). We made ourselves comfortable in the bed and Ted went to the front desk and requested Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder DVDs for us (both are Eliot's favorites). We watched Thomas until 2:30 AM when Eliot finally drifted off to sleep. (Did I mention that those steroids are uppers? He was wired).

The nurses came in every 2 hours and the respiratory therapist came in to give him breathing treatments every 3 hours. Eliot slept through it ALL. Of course, it woke me up every time, but that's a small price to pay. I was so happy that he was responding so well to the treatments and that he was resting comfortably.

Eliot had lots of visitors the next day. My Mom, Dad & sister, My Nana & Papa, Eliot's other Grandma and Grandpa and also his little friend, AJ who lives downstairs from us. Out of all the people, I think he was most excited to see AJ. Of course, AJ came after a dose of the prednizone so he was wired and ready to play. Because Eliot had a fever when he was first admitted, he wasn't allowed to leave his room so the child life specialist came in and brought Eliot a big cozy coupe car to keep in our room. He was so cute playing with it. He kept parking it in the 'garage' (bathroom). He and AJ had a swell time playing with the car.

By mid-afternoon, we got news that Eliot was going to be released. He was responding well to the treatments and as long as we kept them up at home, he could go home. Thank GOD! We were home by dinner time.

My parents bought and brought us the most delicious dinner (and dessert) from Friendly's and I slept better than I have in years last night from being so tired.

Eliot is doing much better today. He still has a cough, but that's pretty much the only evidence that we have left of the whole ordeal. Well, that, and his repertoire of medicines. We have an appointment at 3:00 today for a follow up with his pediatrician, but I suspect that will go fine too. I am SO proud of my son and how strong he is. He amazes me.

(ALL PICS TAKEN WITH EITHER MY IPHONE OR MY SISTERS P&S CAMERA)