Medical Emergencies!

We've all heard the expression: "When it rains, it pours." Usually we are referring to the rain, especially when we lived in Tillamook, but in our case we are not talking about the rain, it hasn't rained a day in Price, we are talking about medical emergencies.

Yesterday Ty stayed home sick from school. He didn't feel well, he had a fever and a bad cough. I had made an appointment for him with his doctor to get his asthma medications filled. While I was there I would ask her about Ty's sickness. One listen to Ty's lungs and she said "Ty has pneumonia. He needs to be checked into the hospital ASAP." WHAT?! I couldn't believe it. She said his oxygen levels were low and she heard fluid in his left lung. So I immediatly picked up Nate from work and we took Ty straight to the hospital. He was given an IV which they had to do twice because they blew his vein the first time. If you have never heard your child scream and cry because of someone inflicting pain or torture on them feel blessed. I held my poor baby boy and wanted to weep along with him. Caleb was in the room as this was being done and he cried when Ty cried, he screamed when Ty scream. Once the IV was in they started an antibiotic drip and fluids.

(Ty feels as good as he looks. Poor kid.)

Nate and I played tag-team at the hospital. I fed Caleb and Mara dinner and got them ready for bed then we went over to the hospital and exchanged placed with Nate, he took the kids home and I stayed the night with Ty. Caleb and Mara were troopers. They too wanted to stay in the hospital and have a sleep over, but that was the last place I wanted them to be! I did not want them to pick up any other germs at the hospital!

(Caleb and Mara ran around the hospital room and played hide and seek in the closet and curtain.)

Have you ever tried getting any sleep at a hospital? I don't think they really want their patients to sleep. Every hour on the hour they would come in and check Ty's stats and vitals, then they would give him another breathing treatment.

(Sleep my poor baby Ty! Get feeling better.)

I finally closed my eyes and fell off to dream land when my cell phone went off. It was Nate I said hello and immediately heard this awful noise in the background. It was Mara. She was gasping for breath. She couldn't breath. She couldn't cry. She couldn't talk. Nate was bringing her over to the ER. I met them down at the ER (jammies and all!) and ran out to get Caleb while he carried in Mara. Her little lungs were struggling to get air. As soon as we checked her in they had a mask over her face and started her on steroids. She responded well and was able to breath normally again. The doctor said she had croup.

Meanwhile I am racing back and forth checking on Ty in one room Mara in another. Caleb bless his heart is wide awake and just going with the flow. Finally I took him to Ty's room and we slept (or at least tried to sleep, he slept) in the bed next to Ty. Mara and Nate stayed down at the ER for several more hours before she could be released. Nate did say after she received her medication it kicked right in and she was quite bouncy! She kept going to the door and saying "I'm ready to go home. Is it time to go home yet?" After four hours and three treatments Mara, Caleb and Nate went back home leaving Ty and myself to finish getting any sleep we could.

(By morning Ty was a new boy. He looked better, he acted perkier.)

It was nice to see Ty improved. His doctor came by in the morning and was quite surprised with how well he was doing. She expected him to stay at least three days. Now after checking on him she said his oxygen levels were up, his white blood count looked great, and the fluid in his lungs was gone. He would be able to go home later this afternoon. Thank goodness the Elder's Quorum came to the hospital last night and gave Ty and blessing. We are grateful for all the prayers in his behalf and for the great doctor who caught this quick enough and admitted him.

(Ty loved being able to watch TV and control the remote himself. He also loved his bed that moved up and down. He asked if we could buy him one at the store!)

When you become a parent you sign up to have everything that goes along with parenting. That even means sickness, health, emergencies....everything! It seems as if we have had our fair share of sickness just this year. I was so grateful last week when we were all healthy, then BAM we got hit again! But it's just a part of life and I'm grateful that Ty and Mara both recovered well and that they could get the help they needed. We are holding our breath and hope Caleb stays well! No more sickness!!