TUESDAY MORNING.... FEVER WAS 104. THAT WAS IT. I TOOK HIM TO THE ER AT DANBURY HOSPITAL. Sure enough...the chest x ray showed pneumonia with pleural effusion..in laymans terms..a pneumonia infection that was causing fluid to accumluate on the outside of the lung.
Tuesday December 20, 2011...transferred to CCMC. I followed the ambulance in my van. Admitted. Wednesday morning...the pneumonia was 100 times worse. Fever was 103. He was struggling to breathe. Wednesday night...chest tube inserted to drain the fluid..immediately a huge huge amount of fluid drained.
Thursday. ICU. Friday ICU. Christmas Eve. ICU Christmas day ICU and here I am...blogging to you on Monday, December 26th 2011 about the fear of watching a compromised child suffer through a left lung full of pneumonia.
As I write this post, we are still in the ICU, the chest tube is still in. My sweet little patient is trending better now. but he has a long way to go.
So many issues.... but next stop after this will be orthopedic because his scoliosis is WAY worse too.
So..we spent our holiday in the hospital and quite honestly...the worst and saddest Christmas ever. Were it not for our faith in Jesus.... it would have been really icky. But we held on tight to the importance of God and Family.
Daniel's school donated a fabulous Christmas dinner of turkey.. and we ate it in the parent kitchen...
Reality is this... life does not care if its Christmas.
Now its the long long drive back and forth to Hartford from our home in Newtown...which is an hour away...loss of my income from weeks of not working... stress and distance from my children...the pressure on John for holding down the house... all of that stuff.
But I am grateful he is improving. I am grateful he is alive. I am in a fantastic hospital. I just can't help but feel cheated out of a joyful holiday....while the rest of my friends and family were eating, drinking, laughing, going to church, opening gifts, sitting by fires...etc We were apart...worrying...and waiting for the next blood culture or the next x ray. And for the few people who dropped off cookies and treats, dinner, soup, and even money... you have to know how much that helped keep spirits up.
Its going to be as long as Daniel needs to improve. But one thing is for sure... we will never forget this Christmas of pneumonia.
I just want to get him home...and see him back in his world again. I miss my home and my children terribly...
And here I sit with my friend my laptop. Praying and praying that this recovery continues. That the complications Daniel has become less complicated. That things hold on at home... because life doesnt give you a break when your child is sick. I hope I still have my part time job...I hope I still can enjoy my Christmas tree...although its probably already drying up.
Daniel is a fighter. Superstar. Hero. But the pain he goes through just doesnt seem fair. at all.
I can't do this anymore tonight.
P.S. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!! We never got our card out this year....www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/mp3/player/ref=dm_ty_cp?fromTYPOrderId=D01-0102957-2488079#latestPurchases
No comments:
Post a Comment