Our scary days are over, Tommy is back home! But he went through a dramatic change since the first day he was taken to the hospital on the ambulance. It was hard for him to ride by himself because I have to drive my car. Once we were in the emergency room he had oxygen and machines hooked up to him and unknown people around him. A few minutes later, he was pocked in his fingers, toes, heals and arms because it was hard to get blood. But he is brave, he didn't cry at all, even I could see he was having pain every time the needle got into his skin.They took a sample from his nose and it came back positive for RSV. So the pediatrician in charge told me that Tommy would require more care what they could give him there. Therefore, he had to be transferred to a bigger hospital.
He was transported in a helicopter from the hospital near my house to the local Children's Hospital without me. The reason Tommy was transported on the helicopter it was because the Children's Hospital staff didn't want delays because of the storm that happened earlier that day, so they didn't know if the routes where cleared off enough to send the ambulance. Once he was at Children's Hospital, he went to the emergency room without anybody he knew because I was driving to get there. When I got there, they said he will be admitted to the hospital. When he saw daddy that night, he was happy. But he had to sleep at a new place he wasn't familiar with, but I stayed with him. But I think what truly scarred Tommy was on Saturday 22nd, the day he was transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Because of he felt asleep, I thought It will give me time to go home to take a shower and change my clothes. I left around 1:30 pm, so I got home around 2:15 pm. I was on the car at 3:00 pm to go back to the hospital waiting for my husband who was locking the door; then, our house phone rang. It was from the hospital telling us Tommy waked up and they were having problem keeping him calm down. They said that he looked everywhere around and didn't see us, and then, he went crazy trying to take the mask and all the stuffs he had over. When we got to the PICU, it was a very sad scenario. His condition was worse, so they made the decision to sedate him. Talking with other parents and the nurses, Tommy's fights was just a typical scenario of kids that get RSV and the sedation helps them to rest and fight against the virus.
After all the dramatic changes he experienced, he lost his balance for a few days because of spending more than a week on the bed. This happens to any adult or child who spends a week on a bed without physical activity. I requested a physical therapy as soon as I noticed his balance was completely off. A Physical Therapist came to see him on Friday 28th and he couldn't walk by himself. She said this is very common and told me how to help him to get his balance back and he was walking again on Monday 31st.
The poor guy went through too many changes at the same time and he is little to understand why he was there, so it affected his behavior for a few days. He was in a bad mood after he went back home, but he is back to his normal life. He is happy, exploring and learning new things since he came back and his bad mood went away. So we are extremely happy he feels safe again!
We couldn't be strong in those difficult moments
if we wouldn't have your support.
Our precious child is with us again thanks to
your prayers and the great care from the nurses and doctors.
_____________________
RSV is a serious respiratory virus that can be life threatening for children at risk. So it is very important to be informed, recognize the symptoms and know if your child is at risk of getting RSV. But even healthy kids over 3 can get a bad RSV. I met one little kid who was already three years old and didn't get into the consideration of a high risk for RSV, but he was rushed to the hospital in helicopter and transferred the PICU right away because of his critical condition. His case may be rare, but this proofs RSV is a serious life threatening virus that can severely affect any child. I will soon write about RSV and its consequences after it is over.
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