We've had quite a scare with Casen - yesterday he started to not eat as well as normal & he became extra sleepy. When he woke up this morning lethargic again and not interested in eating, we decided to take him to the doctor. I took him to the clinic @ 8:30am. While there, Casen began to fuss & root for food - normal behaviors for a hungry 1 month old. Even though he looked pretty good in clinic, because of his age and lethargic symptoms at home, Dr. Sam decided to admit him to the hospital for further work up. I drove to the hospital, registered, then took him to our room on the pediatric floor. When I reached down to take Case out of his car seat, I was shocked to see him bluish-gray in color! I quickly scooped him up. His color improved, but remained dusky even after Bryan arrived a few minutes later. Our nurse was also concerned with Casen's coloring & sluggish behavior and asked Dr. Madhu to take a look at him quickly. Dr. Madhu ordered a slew of tests, including flu & RSV swabs and blood, urine, & spinal fluid cultures. This meant he had blood drawn, a catheter placed to collect sterile urine, & a spinal tap done - Ouch!! Casen was a trooper & made it through all of the tests well. We soon found out that he tested positive for RSV, type A flu, & type B flu! As we were waiting to start meds, his oxygen saturation began to drop. Soon after that, we noticed his heart rate dropping, & then he began to have episodes of apnea where he stopped breathing for 25-30 seconds at a time. At that point, he built up a pretty good audience! The respiratory therapists continually stimulated him to keep his heart & respiratory rates up and the decision was made for him to be intubated (placed on a breathing tube) then transported by air to Children's Medical Center in Dallas. I cannot describe the terror of standing by your child's bedside as he struggles to live... praying for him to continue breathing, for his heart to keep beating... terror!
Casen was stabilized on the ventilator shortly before the transport team arrived from Children's. The team was wonderful & made us feel as comfortable as possible in light of Casen's situation. I was able to fly along with Case to Dallas - he traveled in his very own jet plane!
Casen's jet plane - won't he think this is cool when he grows up?!?
Casen made the trip without any problems and remains stable in the PICU at Children's. They are repeating a few of the tests he had done at Good Shepherd & ordering a few new ones as well. Until his culture results come back, they have him on 2 different antibiotics & 2 antivirals for broad coverage. He'll most likely remain on the vent for several days, & they told us to expect to be here for about 2 weeks.
Our brave little man... such a fighter!
While we were flying in, Bryan went home to pick up Collins, packed quickly, then drove to meet us. We are all in Dallas now and are blessed to be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house nearby.
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