Sometimes there are frightening things that you frequently imagine, even have nightmares about. Having to bring Brendan to the emergency room with a respiratory illness is one of those things for me. We have worked so hard to get him through everything at home and save that hellish scene from ever playing out. In this case, we just did not have the capability to support him at home.

I hate to say that the actual event was even worse than my very negative expectation. We tried to take him to urgent care first, hoping that there was a breathing treatment or something to help out and keep him at home. They could do a chest X-ray there. But as I feared, the doctor there was not comfortable treating Brendan and sent us to the ER. Once we hit the ER, admission is a sure step two.

While we did have a very kind and helpful main nurse, the admission process is like torture. It seemed like 20 people had to ask the same questions, poke him, listen to him, put more stickers on, add more wires. Poor Brendan was so terrified and worked up so his condition just got a lot worse. The majority of the ER staff doesn’t have any idea how to handle his numbers and his color and his problem. We even had a staff member ask me to summarize Brendan’s medical history in 10 words or less! I just sat there and hoped that we could just go see the doctors that know Brendan and understand his case. After a five and a half hour wait, we finally moved up to the fifth floor cardiac ICU.

It hasn’t been much easier up here, Brendan is scared and exhausted and suffering. Getting everything set up and in order is total chaos for a while. But we really like the doctor on for the night and she knows Brendan very well. He is finally asleep with frequent agitated wakings. He has a nurse and a respiratory tech that remember him and are good.

I hope the night brings some answers and relief. Brendan’s trach culture came back positive for parainfluenza 3 (HPIV, not the flu). It is a nasty virus that can cause croup, so it is surely what Trevor has too. So far they have tried adjusting his vent settings and turned his oxygen to 6L and he is still at only 74% on his oxygen saturation. They tried a Xopenex breathing treatment that did nothing. They took a chest X-ray that looked beautiful and clear. Next they will try a dose of Decadron (oral steroid used to treat croup in ER with regular children). We hope this will help the inflammation.

I have handy Mr. iGuy the iPad so I can do blog updates and keep Brendan entertained. I doubt I will be able to sleep at all.

I have never tried to upload blog pictures from the iPad before, so here goes:

We left the house right at nap time so Trevor had to make do

Brendan tried to sleep but couldn’t.

Unfortunately all too familiar

He is trying so hard to sleep but all the noise, strange place, constant interruptions, and coughing are making it tough.

Trevor went home with Bill at dinner time and Bill got him through his night time routine and tucked into bed. He still sounds bad but should be over the worst of his illness now.

Granddaddy (trainsdad) had to cancel his flight for tomorrow morning and postpone his visit for now. It will be so much better to visit when the boys are both healthy! Good thing the flight was on Southwest and there is no penalty for moving the trip.

The cherry on top is that I now have symptoms too. I will update again if anything really big changes.

We survived the night without a nurse but it wasn’t pretty. Brendan wanted to sleep so badly but he had a very bad night with his numbers and I was constantly repositioning him, doing breathing treatments, beating on his back and chest, and cleaning up vomit. I wish there was more I could do for him to make him comfortable. Bill took over just after 4 this morning and I got a couple hours of sleep.

Brendan isn’t much better tonight. We are hoping that we can get over the hump and move toward recovery. He didn’t want pictures, I don’t blame him.

Trevor might have croup. His behavior is almost normal, but he sounds awful. We had to try to keep him calm and quiet, because when he gets worked up and cries, he has more trouble breathing. Even with a fever, he had no intention of staying calm and quiet.
We put out one of their old mini crib mattresses and Trevor thought it was a trampoline.

Trevor slept through the night last night, hopefully he is over the worst of this too.

Here we go in to another weekend with sats falling, O2 usage going up, and no idea what to expect. All we can hope is that the right meds are in use and he will pull through this like the last time. It just is nerve wracking and he is miserable in the meantime.

Both boys seemed a little better this morning. Trevor loves my birthday flowers and I let him see them to keep him from climbing on his workbench.

Johnathon came over to help get our yard under control. He did about four hours of work and made a huge difference. The boys were very interested in his activity outside.

Brendan’s sleep was irregular but Trevor took his usual nap. Trevor woke up sounding HORRIBLE, coughing and sniffing and he was upset for a long time. It was hard to find a way to comfort him. As the afternoon wore on, he got better again and by the time he went to bed, he was doing OK. He has a low fever and the rest of the symptoms come and go. I hope he will fight it off now and not get worse.

Brendan got steadily worse as the day went on. We have had to turn him up to 4L of oxygen again and he is barely keeping his sats in the upper 70’s now. He is still gagging and vomiting quite a bit too.

I tried to just keep the boys resting and quiet today. They watched The Lorax for a while.

Trevor bailed and Brendan could not make it until the end

Trevor ate a good lunch but he didn’t have much of an appetite for dinner.

It is time to start yet another load of wash and hope things improve tonight.