Back on August 16th, Leslie woke up with a runny nose which developed into a full blown cold over the next couple days. Despite my best effort to keep Leslie quarantined in our bedroom in front on the TV, Calla (and me) eventually caught the bug, too. It was a bad cold and generally annoying because she couldn't sleep, take a paci, drink a bottle, etc... but nothing I thought was too serious.
Barry and I were supposed to leave on Thursday for a little getaway to Austin to see "Wicked" and go to Schlitterbahn, so I went ahead and took the girls and myself to the doctor on Tuesday just to head anything off. I at least convinced to doctor to give me some decongestants for the girls so Calla could function.
Wednesday night, Calla woke up coughing, not especially bad, but she could never get back to sleep well. I finally got up and decided to sleep with her in the chair, but after an hour of unsuccessfully trying to get her settled down enough for me to sleep, I gave up, and just turned the TV on for the rest of the night. Calla's cough did sound a little "bark-y," but I was thinking it was probably pneumonia because that's what Leslie's cough was like when she had pneumonia. I was genuinely concerned that Calla was having some strider where her stomach sucked in when she tried to breathe instead of going out. So, Thursday morning, back to the doctor we went...
By this time, Leslie was on the mend, but Calla had developed an ear infection, some chest congestion, and was diagnosed with croup. (And, she had lost a full pound in those 2 days!) The doctor wasn't overly concerned. Mainly because of Leslie's history with lung difficulty, he said to start her on Xopanex (which is an inhaled medicine that opens the lower bronchials) to help her chest clear out. We went home and did our medicines and Calla went down for a much needed nap. I finally decided that I just couldn't leave Calla feeling that bad, and so, we very reluctantly cancelled our trip. And it was a good thing I did...
I thought things were going to start getting better. Mom went ahead and took Leslie for the day because I hadn't slept at all that night before, and I told Barry he could go mow the lawn while Calla slept. Calla woke up a couple hours later in a much better mood, but she was breathing really fast. She took a bottle and still, her breathing didn't calm down. I went in and out of a steamy shower room a couple times with her trying to get her throat to open up, but she was still almost hyperventilating breathing so fast. My last attempt was to do another Xopanex treatment with her, and when that didn't work, I called the doctor back. After some fighting, I finally convinced them, that Calla needed to be seen, and off to the doctor we went... again...
I didn't pack anything in my bag. I got Calla in her car seat as quick as I could and ran out the door. Luckily, Barry was throwing out some grass when I was putting Calla in the car, so I told him what was going on and that he needed to get cleaned up. I knew in heart that Calla was in serious trouble, and they were going to have to admit her. When we got to the doctor's office and the nurse saw Calla, I think they finally believed me that I needed to bring her back in. They took her pulse and tested her oxygen saturation, and while she was oxygenating fine, her heart rate was 177 which is super high for a 6 month old. The doctor came in, looked at her and decided to give her a Pulmicort breathing treatment (even though it's not officially approved for children under 1) to try and get her trachea to relax and open back up. When that did nothing, off to the hospital we went...
When we got to the hospital, we had to register, which seemed like it took forever, but once she got her room, everyone was ready to work. I guess it wasn't a super emergency because she was oxygenating so well, but it was still frustrating having to wait at all for her to get the medicine she needed. The nurses got an IV in her little arm and then the respiratory therapist came in to give her a breathing treatment of racemic epinephrine to get her trachea to relax and gave her the first of four steroid injections. Usually, children only have to have one, maybe two, breathing treatments given 4 or more hours apart, and then they get better. While the medicine did help Calla breathe better, it was less than 2 hours before she was back to full badness. She had to have a breathing treatment every 2 hours until 10am the next morning. It was unreal. Her doctor couldn't believe it, and kept on telling us how unusual this was and how fearful he was of her health in the future, but more on that later.
Calla felt so bad. she couldn't crawl or even push herself up to sitting because of this big cast they had on her arm for the IV. One thing that did seem to pass the time for her was hitting Barry and I in the face with her club hand. Whatever makes her feel better...
They had to wrap it up because she kept chewing on it. We kept joking it was her Left Hand of Doom (Hellyboy comic book reference.) It also kinda looked like she was throwing gang signs...
She has to be naked with the IV in, so she needed to be covered up to sleep. It was nice because she had a pulse/ox monitor on, so I didn't fear covering her up entirely to sleep (which also helped keep her asleep with the countless people coming in and out all night!) They did at least let her do her breathing treatments while laying down, so they didn't completely wake her back up. The nurse even patted her back down for me most the time which was nice because I was finally getting some sleep for the first time in a couple days!
The nurse had to unwrap Calla's arm because it was soaking wet from her chewing on it. While they were trying to get everything done, her IV clotted, so they ended up having to take it out. I convinced the nurse to call her doctor to see if we really needed to put one back in since she seemed to be doing better. While we waited for her to call the Dr. we ran off for a couple minutes to the playroom and let her crawl around a bit. Her face looked so bad, and she had massive dark circles all around her eyes and she had lost so much weight. She was still in bad shape, but it was nice to see the start of a smile back on her face...
She had to keep the sock on because her pulse/ox was hooked up to her toe, and we just unplugged her and wrapped the cord around her ankle for play time! Luckily, the Dr said as long as she was drinking well, she didn't have to have her IV replaced.
And, as quickly as her croup started, it was over. They kept her a while to make sure she wasn't going to relapse which is common, but she never did. She went home on her 7 month birthday, Saturday morning, with still a bad cold, but finally breathing. And after a week or so, she finally was back to her old self.
We went back to the doctor the Wednesday after for a check up and to discuss what we needed to do from here to try and keep her well. It's a delicate line to walk, because babies aren't really supposed to get croup that bad, and the medicines that help ward off an attack aren't officially approved for such a young age. But, we feel the bigger concern at this juncture is keeping her lungs healthy and trying not to traumatize them anymore. Every time she gets croup, her chances for developing asthma increase dramatically. I told our doctor how concerned I was about putting her on untried medicine with her age, but he was quick to point out that there are never trials of medicines on children. Even something as basic as Tylenol has never had an official study done. We just know what it does in adults and assume it does the same in children. So, Calla's on Singulair to try and keep her allergies under control and her nose clear, and she's taking 2 breathing treatments a day with Pulmicort, and when she starts coughing, we start Xopanex. Hopefully, this combination of things will keep her healthy and help us stay out of the hospital through the rough winter cold season.
It's been a hard road to travel filled with many disappointments and tears both for myself and Calla and Leslie even. I thought after all the trouble Leslie had with staying healthy, that Calla would be my strong girl. It's hard to hear that it's likely she's going to have even more trouble staying well than Leslie. I cry for Calla and the loss of normalcy that goes along with a weak immune system. From all the playdates canceled, to church missed, and adventures avoided. She deserves to go out into the world and have all these wonderful experiences and friends, and it's so sad to be preparing for the winter months in August by beginning our winter hibernation. It's hard when we go out and other mothers and grandmothers snicker at me, the germ-o-phobe, wiping every inch of the basket, high chair, or table down with disinfectant wipes to try and keep Calla well without having to completely stay confined inside the house.
It's still a hard road to travel, but hopefully, if we can keep her well this year, then next year will be better. If we can give her the extra time she needs to grow strong healthy lungs and avoid her getting asthma, then it will be a sacrifice well worth it. I love my girls and I will do anything to keep them healthy, happy, and safe. We had to do all these same precautions with Leslie the past 3 years to help her stay well and not develop asthma and pneumonia, and it has been time well spent because every year she's a little bit stronger and gets sick a little less. And, we will gladly make these same sacrifices for Calla, I just wish Leslie didn't have to make them with us.
Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. That we enjoy going out without the crippling fear that Calla will end back up in the hospital. That Leslie can enjoy her childhood and not have to go without too much to help her sister. And that Barry and I can remain strong and prayerful during the twisting road ahead...
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