Hi all, I was going to put this in a diary entry but I’m just too tired to deal with it. It’s been a pretty crazy week. We are having finals for Neuro, Microbiology, Human Development & Ethics. Unfortunately, my younger son (18 months) chose this week to be pretty sick. Thankfully, my husband is incredibly awesome and has taken care of most of it but it’s still wearing me down a little - both in lack of sleep and anxiety…
Let me start off by saying that he is ok, and will be just fine. It started in November when he got a bad case of RSV. Ever since then, every time he gets a little cold or anything he starts wheezing and we have to do breathing treatments. The pediatrician said this could last for two years, but should eventually get better. This weekend he had a little cold but seemed fine.
Sunday night around 10:30pm, we heard a weird noise coming from upstairs and figured out it was Gage coughing. It was a strange barking sound that I have never heard before. We nebulized him and he was fine. Until…2:30 he did it again and the nebulizer didn’t work. He was also having labored breathing and making a horrible noise on inhalation (anyone diagnosed this yet?). Chris took him to the local ER and they were there until 6:30 am. Keep in mind that my neuro final was at 8:30. Basically, they didn’t know what was wrong but he seemed to be getting better. Later on Monday, the pediatrician diagnosed him with croup (parainfluenza virus) and put him on liquid steroids. Even though Chris took him in, I didn’t get much sleep and my exams were at 8:30 (written) and 2:30 (practical). I was a zombie, but I hopefully did ok.
He was fine Monday night but then yesterday evening he was having a bad asthma attack and the nebulizer treatment (Xopenex) only worked for 10 minutes before it wore off. We did four treatments in two hours and decided to take him in again. Chris took him to the ER at 7:30pm, which was super busy and they didn’t see a doctor until 11:30. Gage’s O2 sat was 96%. They gave him a shot of steroids, another chest x-ray and they got home at 3am. I had my ethics final at 8:30 this morning, which involved writing a 5-page essay on an end-of-life case. Yawn!
He seems a bit better today. I hope that he will get over this soon. I feel so bad dumping my poor baby, but I can’t miss exams. I’m really torn. He went to daycare today, so he will probably pick up something else that will make him sicker. I have two more exams to go on Friday and Monday and then I’m off for four days.
Thanks for reading my horrendously long whine! Wish me luck!
Oh my gosh. That is soooo awful. I feel for you and your precious little boy. I hope things improve at your home really soon. I am glad your hubby is such a great help to you during times when you can’t be there.
Here’s hoping for a big dose of improved health at your home. I hope you were able to do well on your exams.
You are doing a great job getting to and through your exams with so much going on with your son. I feel for you. I hope that he is doing better and that the exams went OK. You really are an inspiration to me and probably to many more med school moms out there. Less than a week till 4 days off 
! Keep going!
Ah, Pam, yes, the diagnosis was clear to me! Not from experience on my peds rotation, but from motherhood. Croup is scary (and all the reassurance that it’s generally not serious just does not go far when your kid sounds so scary!). I am glad you were able to get through the exams, and I hope he gets better, you stay well, and you’re able to enjoy a few days of R&R.
(and did you consider asking for a delay on your exam? Often we are afraid to even broach the subject, and it can be a pleasant surprise. I missed a neuro written and practical first year and was sure they would just slam me in some awful way for the practical portion - since obviously that would be hard to reconstruct for a few students - but in fact they set up a totally reasonable way of making it up, and it was all good. You don’t know unless you ask… )
Pam,
Hang in there!
Yes, the diagnosis is very familiar to me. As a PNP, croup,RSV and asthma are part of my days. Yet, it is always different when it is your kid. You are the mom and he’s your baby! It can be so scary. It helps that you are near a great children’s hospital. Try not to feel guilty. Sounds like you’ve got a great husband. You’ll all get through this.
Enjoy your days off!
Shirl
Pam,
Oh dear. I am sorry it has been more than tough. You are really amazing for being able to get everything done. I remember my first’s first case of croup at about 13 months. It is soooo frightening when you have never heard that sound.
We ended up in good 'ole Texas Children’s for a night through till morning. My son got a shot of steroids and promptly began to traverse the gurney back and forth, back and forth, for hours until he finally crashed (fell asleep).
Hang in there!
Michelle
Thanks for the reassurance everyone. He’s still wheezy tonight, even with the Xopenex, but I’m not going to take him in. I’m trying to get the pedi to prescribe a pulse oximeter for him. If she won’t, I’m just going to buy one. I’m debating finding Gage a pediatric pulmonologist or immunologist. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get an opinion.
Thankfully I can sleep in tomorrow. The only good thing from this is it will give me a real leg up on my pedi rotations! I think I’ve seen most of the big pedi ID’s now.
Mary, I did think about changing my exams, but decided it was just better to take them. I know other people in my class have taken exams late, but I don’t feel comfortable doing it unless there is a real emergency (which I KNOW will pop up eventually with these kids!).
Pam
Oh, I remember the first time Michael had croup. We rushed him off to the ER. By the time we got there, his cough was subsiding from being in the cool night air.
Hugs!
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I’m trying to get the pedi to prescribe a pulse oximeter for him. If she won’t, I’m just going to buy one.
Classic doctor thing to do! Pam, you don’t really need to do this I don’t think - by all means talk to your peds but really, you don’t need numbers on a pulse ox to tell you how he’s breathing. You know what wheezing sounds like. You know what he looks like when he’s struggling. Those are a LOT more important indicators than the actual pulse ox (and the 96% in the ER wasn’t bad at all, I hope they didn’t give you the idea that that was in freak-out territory or anything 'cause it definitely is not).
Do you have a child care alternative to the day care center, such as in-home (yours) or family (someone else’s home) day care? Likely if you did see an immunologist, that would be one of the first recommendations - as you observed, he’s in a situation where he can pick up every bug coming down the pike. I know most folks initially look at the comparison in price and conclude that the day care center “wins,” but when you start factoring in stuff like what you’ve been through the past week, the comparison starts looking a little different.
Just thoughts, I know they may not help for your situation! Enjoy your rest.
Hey Pam, It’s been a long time. Sorry to be reconnecting when you’ve had such a bad week.
I can sympathize with croup/parainfluenza thing. Both the boys had it in Oct. Eight straight days of 101+ fever with ear infections to cap off the week. We’ve had conjestion issues that moved into wheezing & ear infections w/ Jackson (the 3 yr. old) since then.
Hope things get calmer now.
Renee
We are quite familiar w/ the nebulizer.
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you don’t need numbers on a pulse ox to tell you how he’s breathing. You know what wheezing sounds like. You know what he looks like when he’s struggling. Those are a LOT more important indicators than the actual pulse ox (and the 96% in the ER wasn’t bad at all, I hope they didn’t give you the idea that that was in freak-out territory or anything 'cause it definitely is not).
The reason I want to get one is so we can AVOID going to the ER. Twice this week my husband was there half the night and his O2 wasn’t bad either time. But, when he sounds so bad it freaks us out, so it would help to have something showing that he’s not in immediate danger.
I’ve thought about home care, but the fact is that I just don’t trust anyone enough except my own family (and they’re not willing). I know that most nannies are great, but I’ve heard some bad stories too (firsthand). Plus, my 4yo has been with the same kids his whole life and I wouldn’t want to isolate him.
Thanks for the note. Back to studying ID now!
Pam
P.S. I just went to nebulize Gage at daycare and he seems almost totally better. Whew!
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Hey Pam, It’s been a long time. Sorry to be reconnecting when you’ve had such a bad week.
I can sympathize with croup/parainfluenza thing. Both the boys had it in Oct. Eight straight days of 101+ fever with ear infections to cap off the week. We’ve had conjestion issues that moved into wheezing & ear infections w/ Jackson (the 3 yr. old) since then.
Hope things get calmer now.
Renee
We are quite familiar w/ the nebulizer.
Hey Renee,
Good to hear from you! Sorry that you’ve been through the same stuff - it sucks! Luckily we didn’t get ear infections this time, but I wouldn’t have let them treat it anway since it would almost certainly be viral.
Drop me an email sometime and let me know how things are going!
Pam
Wow – sorry to hear about everything you are going through right now. Hope it calms down and gets better soon.
Gage seems to be doing a bit better. He’s now an “official” asthmatic. 
We haven’t made any more trips to the ER, but went to the pediatrician today to get him checked out. He seems much better but will be on an inhaled steroid for at least a month (fun with the nebulizer) and she also put him on an antibiotic (otitis media, which I probably won’t treat).
The bad news is that my 4 year old is going downhill now too. I had the peditrician look at him because he has a little cough. Turns out his oxygen sat was in the low 80’s and he had bad crackles in his right lung. Nebulizer mostly fixed him up, but he’s now officially asthmatic too. Xopenex every three hours, plus inhaled steroid once a day, plus liquid steroid twice a day, plus antibiotic. At least she caught it before we rushed him to the ER at 2am.
RSV did this. Have I mentioned that RSV sucks and I hate it? Of course, this is relatively minor - more of a nuisance than anything - so I shouldn’t get so bent out of shape. Just hard when your babies aren’t 100%. Thanks for all the support. I can always count on OPM’s. Only one exam to go, but it’s the worst one (ID - and I know nothing!).
Pam
Pam,
With my dual background, as an RT & an asthmatic, I would happy to field any questions you may - in English. If you wish, we can even chat on the phone. Just drop me an e-mail to let me know.