ER Visits Suck

Yesterday bubba wasn't feeling well. He went down for a later than usual nap and slept until 6:30. But when he woke up he was screaming horrifically. I ran to check on him and he was burning up. It was awful. I checked his temp and he was at 106.4 after sleeping on top of the covers. I knew this wasn't good.

I woke Adam up and we did a few things to cool him down. Slowly we got him down to 103.  Adam then resumed sleeping and Evan laid in the living room watching cartoons while I ate dinner. Then I checked him again both under the arm and temporal. He was 104.7 temporal and 103.3 under his arm while being stripped down to a diaper. I texted my friend and nurse who said that based on his symptoms (no food, no liquids, blood shot eyes), complaining of being cold when he's burning up, and lethargy we should take him in. Low and behold ALL of the urgent care centers close by 7pm. WTH?

I woke Adam up and told him we were taking him to the ER. Evan was just so miserable and pitiful looking. Not even 5 minutes away from home and Evan starts vomiting all over the car. I unbuckle and try to protect as much as I can and find something to cover him with because he's now soaked and shivering. Unfortunately MooMoo, his favorite stuffed animal, was a tragic victim and caught a lot of the fluids. We finally get to the ER and we had no spare clothes for him so Adam said he'd go back home and grab some.

I cleaned Evan up as best I could and wandered into the ER. As we checked in, around 8:30pm, I stripped him down and covered him with a diaper changing pad. I guess I had hoped, in the back of my mind, they would offer something to put on him while we waited in the waiting room, but nada.

The Triage nurse called us back shortly after getting settled in, to check his vitals. By then his temp had dropped to 101, so that was good news, but he was still so lethargic. We were then sent back to the waiting room. The nurse then brought him doses of tylenol and motrin. He got two syringes down him with one to go when he began to vomit all over me. Fabulous. The nurse said "Just make sure you get the rest of that in him as soon as you can. I'm sorry but I know it can upset his stomach especially if he hasn't eaten anything." And he walked away. He didn't offer any assistance to me so that I could clean any of the vomit off my shirt or jeans. He just left. At that point I was pissed. A few minutes later Adam showed up and took over so that I could at least walk to the bathroom and try to clean myself off.

We waited for what seems like forever with a three year old and two year old in the waiting room. Oye. It was around ten thirty when we were finally called back to the ER room. By then Bubba's fever started to break and he was starting to get more energy. Then we waited...and waited.

Finally the doctor came in and checked him out. He was concerned with the high temps but he wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms for a clear diagnosis. So he ordered a flu, RSV, and strep test along with a chest X-ray to check for pneumonia. The flu & strep tests, not that bad. Chest X-ray was a piece of cake. The RSV test? No one should EVER have to go through that...EVER. It was so horrible watching the procedure and all he could do was cry as we had him pinned down.

A while later the results were back in. All of the tests were negative, but the doctor said he couldn't rule out pneumonia. He said the chest X-ray didn't show signs of a huge infection, but it was hard to say that is isn't a small case of pneumonia or bronchitis. Yes, my jaw is on the floor at this point. How does that happen? Not a runny nose, sniffle or cough this kid has had.

To be on the safe side he ordered a big does of antibiotics through injection. If it is bacterial the meds should kick it completely. If it's viral, then there's not much we can do. Then he wanted us to follow up with Dr. W, especially if the fever returned. He also prescribed antibiotics for the next ten days. And if the fever spikes again we need to bring him back immediately. Well, the nurse came back and had an EMT and another nurse to assist with the shots. The minute he say the two nurses he leaped off the table and clung to me like a monkey. He knew something was going to happen and he just didn't want them to shove something up his nose again. Poor baby looked terrified and screamed the entire time we had him down for the shots.

Well, this morning he was at 99 after waking and steadily it risen again, but only to 101. We have our follow up appointment at 2pm and I'm just praying he starts feeling better soon.

After all was said and done he was given a teddy bear for being so brave. Of course the nurses knew it wouldn't be fair to not give one to Sissy too. And then we made it home for a bath shortly before 1am. Are we ever tired today.