Bad Medicine

Apparently the only way we can keep Nick out of the hospital is by having frequent visits with his pediatrician. Today will be his third visit to the doctor since his cold moved into his lungs on Friday. On Saturday it was determined that he has pneumonia in his right lung, and was put on albuterol (luckily we still had that handy nebulizer from his last bought of pneumonia) and antibiotics. Yesterday we added an oral steroid.

Today's trip will likely include a chest x-ray and an additional antibiotic. Once he final shakes this round of pneumonia, his doctor wants him to be on a preventative medicine throughout the entire fall and winter, in an attempt to avoid pneumonia if he gets (or should I say when) he gets sick again.

Back Story: In June Nick got sick with croup twice. The second time, apparently it moved into his lungs and likely cause Pneumonia. However, we only found this out when he had a seizure and fell off our bed in reaction to his fever. We called the paramedics (and boy is it fun to have about eight paramedics in your bedroom), and they checked him for a concussion. They didn't see any signs of trauma, but recommended we take him to the ER just to be safe. What scared me was that he was very lethargic after having the seizure, which is such a foreign state for Nick. Inova Loudon Hospital in Landsdowne has a separate pediatric ER, so they took us there.

Nick was checked out and it was determined that he did not have a concussion and the seizure was likely a febrile seizure, but hey his lungs don't sound so good and his oxygen levels are really low, so let's admit him. They immediately put him on oxygen. We ended up being in the hospital for three days, until Nick could sustain his oxygen levels consistently on his own.

Not that being in the hospital is ever any fun, but the care we received and the amenities in the pediatric ward were fantastic. It really helped make a bad situation tolerable. We were also lucky that my MIL was available to care for Gabe, so that Oscar and I could focus on taking care of Nick.

I really hope that Nick gets better soon, because he's still wants to to run and play, but he's supposed to be taking it easy while he recovers. He's also cranky, and doesn't want to sit and be still every four hours when he's supposed to get a treatment with his nebulizer. Luckily he doesn't fight me when it's time to receive his other medications.

We're going to take every precaution necessary to keep him as healthy as possible during the upcoming cold and flu season, but I'm still afraid that even with the necessary preventive steps, he's still going to get really sick again.