Dealing With Serious Illness

It's never fun for a parent when a child is sick.  Whether that's a stomach bug or an ear infection or something as minor as the common cold, a sick kid, especially a young child who can't tell you how bad he feels, can equal days of whining, crying, and general unhappiness.

However a serious illness adds more to that unhappy equation.  It adds worry.

2.0 was diagnosed with RSV yesterday.  Thursday he had shown signs of SOB or shortness of breath.  He was having trouble catching his breath as he played and his chest was sucked in dramatically when he was trying to breathe.  He'd had a runny nose and some congestion that I was blaming on the dramatic change in the weather (hello 80 degrees!) and the lack of a working air conditioner in our apartment that doesn't have very good crosswinds (and holds heat like an oven but I digress).  So we kept him cool and made sure he was hydrated, figuring the problem would be fixed when the air conditioner was repaired.

Fast forward to Thursday night.  I put 2.0 down for bed around ten and he didn't stay there.  He woke up when he was laid down and started screaming for hours.  His face was red and he couldn't catch his breath at all.  I listened to his chest and heard wheezes, so I propped him up in his crib, turned the fan away from his face and down toward his feet, and prepared myself for a sleepless night.  He would only sleep when I was holding him propped up in my arms and finally around 530 in the morning, 2.0 calmed down enough to sleep in my bed wrapped in my arms and propped up on a pillow.

The breathing difficulties continued, effecting his appetite, and I called the doctor.  After watching him play in the exam room, the nurse practitioner decided he needed a nebulizer treatment and observed him again after it was over (he HATES that nebulizer).  His breathing was easier and he was much happier.  It all equaled a very serious illness, RSV.

Apparently RSV can kill a very young baby, leads to hospitalization in children under the age of 1, and is highly contagious.  My little boy is very sick and will be very sick for a few days to a week now.  The nurse said that if he had been three months younger, 2.0 would've been hospitalized with this.

I was given a nebulizer to use at home and 2.0 has to have albuterol treatments every 4-6 hours if he's wheezing (overnight he doesn't need the treatment but during the day he needs one every 4 hours right now).  His appetite has increased slightly and he's playing more.

I'm scared for my little man.  This could turn into permanent asthma, but I don't think it will.  I'm telling myself not to hover and just let him play.  But it's hard to leave your child to his normal routine when you know how sick he is.

At least we got some decent sleep last night.  That's always positive.