Hospitals are scary places

Thank you everyone for their smses and prayers... we really appreciated it!  The boy's cough got even worse yesterday and he started running a fever, so I brought him to see our regular PD during her night clinic.  The hubby was on call, so my mum followed me, and we reached the clinic at 1850 hrs.  It was 10 minutes before opening time, but already we were number 10 in the queue... She listened to the little kid, gave me a worried frown, and said she would use the nebulizer on the boy to help open up his airways.  For those who haven't heard of the term, its this machine that administers medicine as a mist that is inhaled into the lungs via a gas mask, and the hissing of the mist along with the mask is pretty scary for a toddler.  I had to pin Junior J's arms and hold his head in a death grip, while my mum held the mask over his face.  The boy struggled (and boy, he's pretty strong even when he's sick!), wailed, screamed and cried, while we tried singing songs to calm him down.

The PD then listened to his breathing after the neb, and said that she was worried that his breathing difficulties may be due to a foreign body obstructing his airways instead of just plain RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).  My heart dropped.  She recommended that we head down to the hospital to get a chest X-ray done to check it out.  My heart dropped even further.  I called the hubby, and the PD spoke to him, and the hubby told me to send the boy in to KKH (the women and children hospital).

I must admit that I really rely on the hubby when it comes to medical issues.  I tend to freak out in hospitals with all their stainless steel, needles and white coats, and always leave hubby to speak to the doctors.  This time, I was reminded how dependent on him I was in this area, and was really quite a bunch of nerves at the hospital.  My mum came along with me to help, thankfully, and between us we tried to soothe the cranky little boy who was upset at missing his bedtime (and having that hissing smoky thing thrust into his face for more than 10 minutes).  I explained to the nurse at the triage about what was the issue, and they immediately referred us in for a check since an obstruction was a serious matter.

What followed was us ping-ponging between nurses to doctors to the radiologist.  The boy was understandably upset as it was way past his bedtime and people kept doing things to him (thankfully, there were no needles involved).  He wriggled and protested every time they tried to put the oximeter on his toe.  He screamed when they did the neb on him (yes, round 2 of hissing gas).  He struggled everytime they put the stethoscope on him.  And he yelled during the X-ray.  And cried when we tried to feed him paracetamol.  At the end of it all, I don't know who was more traumautized: The boy, or myself, from having to seize him tight amidst the struggling and crying, while singing songs and telling him that everything was going to be alright.

Anyway, the X-ray showed no obstructions.  Which was good since a foreign body would have had to be removed via surgery.  But the X-ray had something else: Both lungs appeared all fuzzy, indicating the boy had pneumonia, which explained the horrible cough, the fever and the breathing difficulties.  We then left for home at midnight, armed with 8 bottles of medicine (yes, 8, of which we've only been able to feed the boy 3, since now he's extremely suspicious of anything we try to feed him).

The boy still can't sleep well thanks to his cough, and has been keeping me up most of the night since he needs to be carried upright to ease his discomfort.  I spent the night praying... and hope you can say a little prayer for us too...

Please pray for:
1. Us to be able to feed the boy the meds, especially the important ones like the antibiotics.  He's getting very good at dodging the spoonfuls of meds.

2. Strength to keep up with the sleepless nights, and that all of us (me, hubby and my mum) won't fall sick from the lack of rest.  And patience with each other, since the lack of sleep makes one short-tempered.

3. The boy's fever to go down, and for him to recover soon.  Also, for the meds to make him more comfy, and that he'll be able to sleep better at night and during naps.

4. Please also pray against side effects for the meds.  Antibiotics are known to mess with the gut, and that'll just make the boy more uncomfortable...

Thanks, friends.  And hope you have a blessed weekend...