This is what he looks like now:
I don't know if you can tell but he is giving a little smile in this photo and let me tell you his positive attitude and smiles make my heart flutter. He's just remarkable. He's gone through quite the roller coaster ride these last couple of days.
When we arrived at the ER at Children's hospital on Saturday morning, they started running all sorts of tests, cultures, and x-rays right away. It took five sticks to get an IV in. Parker is always a difficult stick and this time was no different. They ended up with the IV in his wrist which Parker can't stand because he likes to use his hands and chew on his fingers.
We all figured we were probably dealing with pneumonia but they said we were lucky to have caught it fairly quickly. They think there are some super bugs at work too but it takes awhile for those to grow out to know exactly what we're dealing with. This makes it a bit tricky to treat because the Dr.'s just have to guess what they are trying to kill.
He was admitted because his labored breathing was getting worse , he was needing quite a bit of oxygen support and his temperatures were getting pretty high. They moved him up to his room and since it was the weekend we were being followed by resident physicians who were placing calls to their attendings for orders. They started him on very strong IV antibiotics right away and he's been on 4 new and different antibiotics since we've been here. He did have a reaction to one of them which turned his face bright red and gave him splotches on his arms and chest. He likes to keep things interesting you know.
It turns out the resident physician that was overlooking Parker's care probably didn't realize the situation was as serious as it was and it wasn't until the nurse that was caring for Parker got her supervisor involved that we realized things were worse than we had thought. A supervising physician came in and decided that Parker needed be transferred to the PICU and followed by the Intensivist as soon as possible.
Parker was working VERY hard to breathe for quite a long time and was just running out of steam. They first tried him on CPAP, then BIPAP, and then ended up putting him on a ventilator. I, of course, was not thrilled about him needing to be put on a ventilator for the third time in his life but I knew it was for the best. I felt so much better about the whole thing once Parker calmed down and was finally able to get some rest for the first time in nearly two days.
After he had been on the vent for awhile, he peeked his little red puffy eyes out at us and gave us his wonderful smile as if to say, "It's all right, I feel much better now." Then he perked up a bit more and even wanted to play with some of his toys. We played peek-a-boo, sang some songs, and he bonked us on the head with his magic green wand. The sweetness of my little boy makes me melt. He's such a trooper and I just love him to pieces!
We've asked for prayers and I know it's making a difference. This thing came on strong and fast but he's doing what he needs to do to get better. I'm so happy Parker is more comfortable and that he's in a place that can help him. I'm grateful to the grandparents for taking such wonderful care of Alexa while Paul and I are away and I know she's going to be spoiled silly when we get home. I'm wishing I wasn't such a light sleeper as some rest would sure be great but hey we can't get everything we want can we?
Thanks for keeping updated on my little man. We appreciate all of your love and support!
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