Another trip to the ER...

Yesterday Harlie woke up and seemed sick. She sat on the couch and didn't move. Then I noticed that her breathing was very labored. We haven't seen her breathe like that in a long time. So, I called her pediatrician and got an appointment. Of course, I had to cancel her ortho appointment to replace it with the ped appointment. But, she wasn't feeling good anyway, so I'm sure it was better to cancel that one. It's just her annual spinal check and I think that can wait till after the holidays. I am trying really hard to not overwhelm our schedule anymore (a true challenge for me).

Anyway, so Brandy and I load up the kids and go see Dr. Derco at 3:30. He does not like her color (her nail beds were blueish) or her labored breathing. Her secretions are thick and frequent (had to get up numerous times the night before to suction her, which rarely happens anymore) and she had a fever of 100.2. Oh, and we've had to turn on the oxygen a lot lately. Her sats have been hanging out in the 70s instead of the 80s like normal. So, he said I had to take her to the ER at MCV. Lovely.

So, I drop Brandy and the boys off at home, call my mom and ask her to come over and I take Harlie to MCV. I was so lucky and found street parking right near the ER (that has NEVER happened). We check in and they said a nurse would come and get her. Oh, when we checked in the nurse at the front desk asked what her sats were and I said 70s and she almost freaked out. She started to run and get some help and I told her it was okay. She's a cardiac kid and she's fine. She said, "Whew"! It was funny.

Anyway, the nurse that came to get us was Stephanie! The same nurse that we had when we spent 50-some hours in the ER a year and a half ago. It was so nice to get there and be welcomed by her. Plus, it helps when the nurse remembers Harlie's history. It was great.

So, they took a couple x-rays, started an IV (torture as usual), took some blood, and nasal swabs for testing.

The quick version (Cooper's starting to stir so I gotta be quick) is that the x-rays were fine for her chest, but she is very backed up in the poo department. UGH! And she's been pooping. No applesauce for Harlie today. And her white cell count was 33 (normal range is 5 to 10), so she's fighting off some bug for sure. Oh, and at 5:30 her temp had gone up to 102.8! We won't know the other results until some time today. They have to wait for something to grow in her cultures.
I was thinking she got RSV since Cooper just had it, but I don't think her white cell count would be so high with that, but who knows. They said that an elevated white cell count usually means a bacterial infection vs. a viral infection. So, they gave her a Rocephin shot (hate those) which is a strong antibiotic med. They wanted to give it through her IV, but it went bad before they could do it and it is worse to get another IV started than to just get one shot and be done with it. Plus, she did get her Synagis shot last month which is supposed to help ward off RSV.

Oh! And the doc that was on was the same one we've had before and she remembered us. And the nurse that relieved Stephanie at 7pm was Angela - a Steeler fan club friend of ours. How great is that?! They all couldn't believe how big Harlie has gotten and they all said that they couldn't get over her hair. It is really coming in thick now (which is a huge relief for me). So, the stars were aligned for us last night as far as care goes.

Anyway, the doc asked me how I felt about Harlie's condition and I said I was fine to take her home and that I knew my night nurse was coming in. So they let me take her home. Angela said that she would have been admitted for sure if she was a normal kid. But I am very comfortable taking care of her when she's sick and we certainly have all the necessary equipment. So, at 9:30pm we left. Another very long day. On my way to the ER I had to wonder when life will settle out and not be so frantic all the time. I just hope I have the energy to keep up.

Oh! And she was supposed to go to Children's in DC this morning to have a tube put in her ear, but clearly we had to cancel that. I didn't feel like driving that today anyway. And they said we had to be there by 6am - which means leaving here before 4am. Yuck! I do feel bad cancelling at the last second though because Dr. Preciado really went out of his way to get her in so fast. We didn't want her to go too long without the tube because she is constantly getting infections. Oh well, such is life I guess.

Well, Cooper needs me now. So I must run. Talk to you later!
~Christy