We arrived home Sunday evening so excited to see Ian. It was amazing to see the kids respond to each other. Lila couldn't wait to get in the door to see her brother. And Ian was literally spinning on the floor with excitement upon seeing us. He looked like one of the street performers we saw in the subway station!
He was quite stuffy so we ended our evening with suctioning, which we all despise. Monday was okay, pretty basic day, prepping for Valentine's Day. Then came Tuesday and the strangeness began.
Ian woke somewhat early and laid there playing his music, which he often does. I didn't think much of it and let him have his chill time. He eventually fell back asleep of course around the time I needed to wake him to follow our morning routine before therapy and dropping Lila at school. But there was something strange going on with him when I finally picked him up out of his crib. He was really out of it, lethargic. I carried him out to his high chair to have a look at him.
Luckily Mike had done his morning biz call from home and was still around to see him. He was completely out of it, barley holding his head up and just not connecting with anyone or anything. We decided I'd take him early to his pediatrician so Mike put him in the car and I grabbed our things. Ian could barely hold his head up and was slumping in the car seat. We asked our wonderful neighbor to come with me to hold his head up and keep an eye on him. By the time I got to the closed freeway entrance she let me know it looked like he had passed out and had a tiny bit of blood coming out his mouth. I freaked out, pulled over and called 911.
Before the ambulance arrived I was able to perk him up a tiny bit with some milk. I can't even believe he could hold it but he did in a very strange position. He was a bit more with it when they finally headed up to UCLA but still pretty spacey, just laying on my chest and lifting his head occasionally to see where he was. Slowly he began to come around and within an hour, he was about 80% back to his typical self. They did blood work and an x-ray but that was about it. At one point, after an attending came in to tell us the plan of being discharged, a nurse came in with IV supplies looking to start and IV and get a urine sample. I put a stop to that. If he really needed it and was still out of it, I'd have no problem having someone skilled at small children start one but I requested they wait to see what the plan was.
By 5:30 we had been seen by everyone who needed to see us, including Dr. Lazareff, who put his shunt in (who confirmed all was okay with it) and we were ready to go. No real answers on what had happened, he was just about back to normal (80%) and there was nothing else to do. The consensus was that he probably had a seizure he was probably just in the postictal state, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postictal_state which is when the brain is reorganizing itself. And that might have been what we were experiencing with him. Sad to think but unfortunately might be a reality. I've missed a couple of appointments with Ian's Osteopath in January. Although I really don't get what he does with him, I really feel it has helped him, especially with all of his brain issues. I've got a bunch of appointments queued up and will make sure not to miss them. And we will watch for any signs in the future but for now, just biz as usual.
Wednesday we needed a visit to the pediatrician for a follow-up on his wheezing and to get his Synagis shots (for RSV) She was concerned that he was still wheezing, although she said the x-ray looked okay in general with just a spot of stuff it looked like he needed to cough up. But she suggested we try to get in to see Dr. Platzker, his Pulmonologist. So I emailed his nurse to see if we could squeeze in. I emailed his nurse to see if we could get in Thursday.
That night, Lila couldn't stop coughing. It was crazy! Didn't cough a bit during the day but as soon as she laid down, couldn't stop. And it was a really strange one, talking to a doc in the middle of the night, together we decided it sounded like croup. I guess it's going around. When she wasn't coughing, she was having nightmares. I didn't get a moment of sleep and then was freaking out wondering how I was going to keep the kids apart so Ian didn't get it.
Just before 8, as I was awaiting Dr. Woo's office to open up to figure out when to bring Lila in, I received a call from Dr. Platzker's nurse. She tells me to bring Ian in at 9 and prepare to be admitted! They had seen him twice during this month run of whatever sickness he's had and since Dr. Woo was still concerned (Dr. P knows and highly respects Dr. W), Dr. P felt he needed to adjust Ian's meds, Lasix especially, in order to help him through this and wanted to do it under supervision.
I lost it! How was I going to swing that. Getting Lila taken care of and Ian in. Shelia, Dr. P's nurse, said I needed to take care of Ian first. That to me is a problem. I know it's reality, but my sweet little girl sounded like gasping for air and had a seal bark. She needs care too. I had already called my wonderful MIL to let her know what was going on before I knew I needed to bring Ian in. We were strategizing on how to keep the kids apart. After getting off the phone with Shelia, I called her back and just let it out to Lona. Like usual, she said she'd do whatever she could to help. But we needed Mike as well. He had a crazy work day planned that was about to get crazier.
Unfortunately, I was having trouble gathering myself. But Mike helped calm me down. Luckily, the kids weren't up yet. He walked me through what would happen, I would pack our things and get ready to go. He could work from home with Lila hear until her appt. Once he took her, he could drop her at Lona's for a night or two while we were in the hospital. Hopefully Lona wouldn't end up with croup! But we did some research finding that it mainly affected smaller children.
So as planned, I packed us up and drove Ian to Children's while Mike awaited Lila waking up. We arrived much later than 9 as it takes us at least 40 minutes to get there even with light traffic. For the third time in the week, Ian complained through vitals. Like usual, each time he was weighed, they came up with something different. Funny enough, this time he was the lightest, 32.6. Which was good for me as Dr. P is always on my case to have him loose weight. But very odd, when Dr. P walked in, Ian smiled away at him. Like he knew it was going to be okay. And it was. His obvious wheezing was more upper and Dr. P was very happy with how his lungs sounded. He added another breathing treatment and a nasal spray and sent us on our way!
Boy was I a happy girl. My little guy just avoided another torturous experience. Thank goodness!
Besides the moment of smiles for Dr. P, Ian was kind of fussy since waking. I called Mike. They were waiting for Lila's appointment and I decided I wouldn't bring Ian into the house until they were gone. So we went to a park for lunch. As soon as he was on that blanket, with the breeze through his hair and his feet crunching the grass beneath the blanket, he couldn't stop laughing! It was adorable! I swear he knew everything.
We really don't know what Lila ended up having. Def could have been croup and the doc said she would be contagious for 3 days so I packed her things and Daddy swung her by to pick them up on the way to a sleepover at Grandma's. She was very excited about that!
This gave me a chance to hang with Ian on my own, which was so lovely. We went to the zoo and then Saturday I took him to the Remo Drum Circle. He loved it! He just watched and laughed at everything. On the way home we stopped at the Getty to have lunch on the lawn. Although the lawn was closed, we found a little patch of grass and he crawled all over, also walking down the rock benches. Again, he loved everything. Just getting out, watching people, feeling different textures. And probably most of all, not having anyone poking him was best of all!
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