pretty quiet week so far. incidentally, next week is election week in most of the US, so don’t forget to vote on November 7th (and vote early if you can–my ballot just has to be dropped off)
pretty quiet week so far. incidentally, next week is election week in most of the US, so don’t forget to vote on November 7th (and vote early if you can–my ballot just has to be dropped off)
Son started having trouble breathing on Saturday around noon. Nurse line said take him to urgent care, urgent care doc looked at him for just thirty seconds before saying “Take him to the emergency room. Don’t bother with the local ones, go straight to the children’s hospital, they’ll just transfer him anyway.” Then we had a very busy four hours at the children’s ER where everyone was very serious and urgent and we’ve been in the PICU ever since.
So, not well.
Shit man. Any update? Did they at least figure out the cause?
Bronchiolitis brought on by rhinoenterovirus (aka. the common cold) intersecting with dormant, previously undiagnosed asthma.
I’ve experienced exactly the same with my son. He was in hospital for about two weeks but is now absolutely fine.
Really scary and distressing time, I still get wobbly when thinking about it… but the doctors and nurses will look after him.
I hope you’re doing okay. At least as okay as you can be. Don’t forget to eat and sleep yourself.
Wow, two weeks? I should count myself lucky. We’re looking at three full days, four nights in the PICU plus the half a day spent in the ER.
Eating, I’ve got no appetite. Plus he’s not allowed to eat or drink so I feel like I can’t do it in front of him. A neighbor brought soup in a thermos that I can take swigs of throughout the day. Sleep at least I’m keeping up with, though I’m exhausted and distracted all the time.
Thanks for your kind words.
Hey man, it’s been a few weeks and your post has been on my mind. How’s the kiddo holding up? How are you holding up? Hope all is well.
Out and happy. He’ll be on flovent for a couple years as a preventative, but no known triggers beyond respiratory infection. Sad he missed trick-or-treating but no lasting damage — fully covered by insurance.
Thanks for checking in.
I’m so glad and thankful to hear that. All the best.
Thinking of you all. Let us know if there’s anything we can do.
Honestly, if you have some interesting longform articles that aren’t paywalled, I could use something to take my mind off the present.
No clue what you’re into, and the links in the “reading” folder of my bookmarks are all dead, but grabbed links to a few collections of long articles. Haven’t vetted them myself.
https://uwapress.uw.edu
https://longreads.com
https://www.newyorker.com/archive
& a couple of youtube channels which go in depth and which are long & calming.
https://youtube.com/@GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles?si=bMdNUYd6KTEUp1up
https://youtube.com/@ChristianWilliamsYachting?si=z7kFysGzN0CLMvjF
Should have some direct links to articles come the morning. Here’s hoping you have some good news by then.
The news is an asthma diagnosis, which will be very manageable now that we know about it. He should be home day after tomorrow; it’s a shame he’ll miss Halloween, though.
So glad it is going to be manageable.
First time I heard of asthma, it was the kid brother of my friend and he had to go to hospital a lot but that was back in the early 80s. Then I went to a new school and seemingly everyone had asthma, so I imagined they’d all be having emergencies.
Accidentally landed on your profile when trying to reply & happy to see that Violent Femmes quote :)
Safe home. As for Hallowe’en, think you’ve had the scariest of all time!
I’ve been living with chronic asthma my whole life, I was born premature, 7 months specifically (also 10 days in a incubator), and ever since my lungs are terrible. When I was a young child my parents had to take me to the emergency room constantly because of asthma attacks and often I had to stay at the hospital under constant supervision. What I know is how it feels to not be able to breathe, but I can’t imagine how my parents felt. I hope your son is better now.