Hospital Stay 2014

Time has just mushed together the last couple of weeks.

Gavin got sick a week before I took him to the doctor. He has "asthma" that only seems to affect him when he gets sick. So every couple of months he will start sniffing one day and then really act like a zombie and really struggle to breathe for a day or two and then he starts getting better. I haven't taken him in to the doctor much because every time I do take him in they tell me he's fine and just use his inhaler.

This time he got sick on Wednesday started to get better and then started getting worse again on Tuesday... which is not normal. His breathing didn't seem (to me) as bad as it gets sometimes so I wasn't too worried. Wednesday he was doing worse and seemed very lethargic... more than normal so I called his doctor. Since we couldn't get in to see his doctor I just took him to the instacare by our house. They checked his oxygen levels and sent us straight to the hospital. Of course it was after they had taken our money haha. We have been the hospital once before and I figured this would be the same. Spend a couple of hours at the hospital and then we'd be on our way. I was wrong.... very wrong.

Hanging out in the ER. Gavin asked to watch Finding Nemo.... I'm pretty sure he remembered that he watched that the last time we went to the hospital.

We spent a few hours in the ER and then they decided to admit Gavin. The first night his oxygen levels were bad but they were scoring him better. They have this scoring system with how it sounds when he's breathing and how hard he's working to breathe.... I don't quite know how to explain that. The second day his oxygen levels were better but he was scoring worse. I didn't understand how that could be possible but they ended up putting him on a continuous albuterol treatment at that time. The continuous treatment gave him tremors and was not fun to watch. He did alright but when he got upset he just shook like crazy. I'm sure the steroids they gave him didn't help the way he felt either.

Holding the car they gave him at the Riverton Hospital. Gavin was also upset that we got pink bracelets and he didn't so the nurse told him she would get him one... he would not stop talking about it until that bracelet was on his arm.

Riverton has the best toys for kids. They also gave him the blanket in this picture.

Gavin was such a trooper. It was funny when they would bring new toys he would perk up for a little bit and play and then would sort of crash after a little bit.

 

 

While we were at the Riverton Hospital they were all so nice and helpful. Gavin got a car and a couple stuffed animals and a book. They were so good to us. One of the nurses told us that they all talked and decided we need to have more kids because Gavin is so cute and so well behaved. Lol I thought that was sweet of them. Gavin was very well behaved and so good at letting everyone listen to him and poke him and even did really well both times he got poked for his IV.  

Finally around 11pm Thursday (I think)... give or take an hour they decided they needed to move Gavin up to Primary Childrens. I felt at peace. I didn't necessarily want him to be transferred but felt like if that was going to happen then it would be alright because that's what he needed. Around midnight they moved us by ambulance/the life flight team to Primary's. Gavin was pretty scared. After he got used to the ambulance he kept saying "Daddy is going to meet us at the ambulance." It was so sweet.

Getting ready for our first and hopefully last ambulance ride.

We got to Primary's and they got Gavin all situated they put him on High Flow Oxygen and the continuous albuterol. The high flow shoots oxygen up your nose and helps keep your lungs inflated.... on the one hand it was nice to only have the things up his nose but on the other hand because they were doing the high flow and the albuterol a lot of condensation would form in the tube and every once in a while he would get shot up the nose with water and that was pretty traumatic every time it happened. The first room we were in was a very tiny space it felt like it was more of just a bed then a room. Anytime I moved around I felt like I was in the way. Gavin had a hard time being moved. The only thing that would calm Gavin down was when I would sing to him. Looking back I feel a little silly for singing for everyone that came in and out of his room but I would sing in front of the whole world to help my boy. It was funny a couple time when Gavin was being moved a couple of the nurses joined in and Gavin just looked at them like they were crazy. I told one of his nurses sorry she got to listen to me sing and she said it was like magic the way he responded to me. It's so nice when you feel helpless to have something you can do that at least can soothe your child a little bit.

I didn't realize until now that I didn't really take any pictures of him at Primary's until he was starting to feel a little bit better.

I am definitely the favorite parent. Gavin loves his Daddy but when he isn't feeling well he just wants Mom... I can remember feeling that way too. Gavin for most of his hospital stay wouldn't let me out of his sight and wouldn't let Chris even sit by him so this was a good day haha.

When we left Riverton they told us they thought Gavin would probably just be in the ICU overnight and then they would move him. Well he ended up being there for that night and then two more days. I asked one of the Respiratory Therapists why he would have been "scoring" better the first day even though his oxygen levels were worse and then scoring worse once his oxygen levels went up. He said that sometimes when they are really bad their lungs are so closed up that you can't hear how bad it is and that maybe after he was treated a little bit his lungs opened up a little and they were able to hear just how bad it was.

For the majority of the time he was on the high flow and the continuous albuterol he wasn't allowed to eat and he was starving. One of the days he said "That lady is going to get me ice cream" for a good two hours. thankfully our nurse diligently searched for the doctor and they were able to advance his diet to clear liquids. He got a Popsicle and a slushy but wasn't much interested in it. The next day when they advanced his diet so he didn't have restrictions he just about inhaled his first graham cracker. I didn't even see it after I gave it to him and two seconds later he was asking for another one. 

The third night we were at Primary's we were moved upstairs to the normal floor.... I'm not really sure what that floor was called. When we got there one of the techs had actually worked with Gavin at Riverton Hospital. He is seriously the nicest guy. He let us watch a movie he brought from home when he mentioned that he hadn't watched it I felt bad and told him we didn't need to watch his movie and he told us that that's why he brings them. I guess he has a bunch of unwatched movies at home that he buys just to take to work for the kids. Like I said... so sweet. 

Gavin was so excited to eat his pancakes.

I love this picture. He gives the best dirty looks.

After a day on the regular floor they sent us home on oxygen. Gavin was so good at keeping his tubes in his nose. He didn't like when you first put it in there or taking it off but he seemed to tolerate keeping it in pretty well. He was on oxygen morning and night for the first 4 days and then just at night for another 4 or 5 days. 

It is blurry but I didn't want to ask the nurse to take another one.

 

At his first doctors appointment our doctor told us that when you go to the ICU for what Gavin did you're just one step away from them putting a tube down your throat to breathe for you. As of his appointment yesterday we are now completely off the oxygen and slowly weening him from the albuterol treatments. We also added another long acting inhaler which thankfully is covered by insurance... apparently some insurances don't cover it and is pretty pricey. 

 

 

We have been so blessed. We had one of our old webelos come mow our lawn, we had delicious dinners brought to us and even more people wanting to bring dinners, someone even brought us homemade fresh bread right out of her oven. One of the biggest blessings has been my mom. She is such a worrier and I'm pretty sure that's where I get it. She and my dad have done so much for us. They spent many hours at the hospital, picked up food for us, brought us sparkling cider to celebrate our anniversary, and my mom has spent extra time at our house watching Gavin so we could go to work. I am so grateful for all of the support and service we have received from everyone and all the prayers that were offered on behalf of our family.