Hi all. Sorry I had to have Devin post for me yesterday. Here's how everything went down. Kristen has had coughing spells due to the virus. On Saturday night she had one that caused her to throw up. She seemed okay afterward and was not running a fever so we went to bed as usual. Sunday morning she was very weak when I woke her to go to the ATC for our IV's. It seemed all she could do to change her clothes. When we got to the unit, her vitals were all normal and we weren't too concerned. All was going well until we were in the middle of her platelets. She had gotten up to go to the bathroom and when she came back she could hardly talk and collapsed onto the bed. I asked her if something was wrong and she nodded her head. She didn't have enough air to talk. I quickly grabbed a nurse, they took her vitals and her O2 level had dropped to 76%! They had O2 on her in a matter of minutes and she started to do better. They went ahead and finished her platelets and after consulting with the Dr. on call she was transferred to the EC-Emergency Center. After being evaluated, receiving a couple of breathing treatments, having more labs drawn, a chest x-ray, and EKG and being kept on O2, she was admitted to the Peds unit again. There she is being kept on O2 and receiving regular breathing treatments of Zopenex (sp? like albuteral but better). She received 2 units of red blood cells because her hemoglobin was low. I spent the night with her and we got very little "good" sleep. Kristen's was often drug induced because of the Benadryl premed for her blood transfusions. So between transfusions and breathing treatments and vitals, she probably didn't get more than an hour of sleep at a time. We saw Dr. Worth this morning and the plan is to keep her on the oxygen and zopenex treatments until her lungs are clear again. This virus has to run it's course. She has been on isolation so that the infection doesn't transfer to other pediatric patients. This means that all the staff has to wear a paper gown, mask and gloves to deal with her. They put them on before entering the room and remove them before leaving the room discarding them in a specified container. I've left her this morning to get some rest. I plan on staying with her until I feel assured that she is breathing normally. No more talk of a pulmonary embolism. Thank God! I forgot to ask to confirm for sure but her chest x-ray must not have shown one. We were very flattered to hear that our nurse today, Carra, was excited to meet Kristen. I guess the other staff told her that she would love her. She's a good patient. Even in the middle of the night, she would say thank you to whoever came in to treat her. Even feeling her worst she smiles at all those involved in her care no matter who they are. I think that it is her attitude of gratitude that endears her to the staff.
Now how can you help? Pray that Kristen move through this setback as quickly as possible. Pray that I remain free from this infection and that it is not spread to other compromised patients. Pray that Kristen's lungs clear up and there is no more wheezing and that she will be able to breath properly on her own. Pray for real refreshing rest for both of us. I didn't realize how stressful yesterday had been until this morning when I went to get breakfast and as I was sitting quietly drinking my coffee, I realized that I had tears of exhaustion and tension running down my face. I feel such relief knowing she is under expert care. If I have anything more to share from today I will post again this evening.
Once again I am grateful to all of you who read this and make this journey with us.
Transferring to the EC
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