Such a Trooper

Poor Eli has been so sick this past week. It all started last Sunday when we had some friends over for dinner and he started vomiting and developed a fever. I thought it would resolve in a day like all the other stomach viruses we had been seeing in clinic but his fever just worsened the next day along with lots of runny nose and coughing. Eli has had his share of colds but this one was SO much worse.

I really thought by Tuesday that he had the seasonal flu. I decided to take him to the doctor on Tuesday morning (in the blizzard!) to make sure everything looked ok. His ears, throat, and lungs all checked out clean so we returned home to wait the viral bug out. Wednesday, things worsened and by Thursday it was clear he had developed some respiratory distress. By this time his viral culture had returned and we knew we were dealing with human metapneumo virus (sp?) which Marc told me is a virus similar to RSV. Marc took him back to the doctor later Thursday afternoon and with his oxygen levels staying consistently at 85% it was decided it would be best to have him in the hospital. His chest x-ray shows that he has a pneumonia consistent with the particular virus he has and unfortunately not one that can get better with antibiotics.

I stayed with him Thursday night and most of today while Marc stayed home with Hailey. He is pretty miserable with all these tubes attached and he is just not feeling himself. Although he had some good moments today, I know that he is not ready to go home yet. He is requiring 1.5 liters of supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula for his oxygen level to stay at 92-94%. Hopefully, tomorrow we will make some progress weaning that down because the small progress he made today was lost and he is now back to where he started the morning at.

He was excited about these new toys sent from family. I brought them out early this evening when he was feeling a little better and he did play some with his new puzzle and Elmo phone.
Marc brought Eli some new clothes to put on today and I thought his "I'm the Boss" shirt was more than appropriate given the circumstances. Today, I have let Eli watch TV nearly all day long including his Elmo video four times and I was super excited he wanted cookies for lunch since he was finally willing to eat something. Today what Eli says goes! :)

So that brings us to tonight. Eli is sleeping sound now that his fever has broken. I temporarily have his IV pump and telemetry happy enough that they are not beeping at me. It is time again to pump for the umpteenth time. Hailey is home asleep under Nana's care. And Marc is fulfilling a moonlighting shift in a nearby ER he committed to a while ago when he wishes he were here with us. All day I have continually been reminding myself that none of this is out of God's control and care. He is so good even in times of stress and we have plenty to be thankful for.

Two things in particular that I have thought about today. First, I have been so thankful for my nursing education. This seems odd to me because any other time it has just been something I do because it is my job. It certainly cost a pretty penny and I may not use it full-time for much longer, but I have been so thankful this week for knowing what is going on with Eli. I feel like I have been able to be his advocate many times over the past few days and for that I am thankful. Second, I have been thinking about all the parents who have children with chronic diseases that live my past 48 hours for months and years. I have a new level of empathy for those moms and dads. It is heartbreaking watching your children hurt when there is little you can do to fix their hurt.

So, for tonight, you can pray for a good night of sleep for Eli, Mommy, Daddy, Hailey, and Nana. Enough said. :) Tomorrow, you can pray that Eli will be able to maintain his oxygen saturation on room air without the aid of oxygen so that we can disconnect him from these tubes and go home!

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26