life at mannchester estate: Weathering the storm.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Weathering the storm.

We do live in the Midwest which is in the middle of an atrocious ice/snow storm right now. We are getting ice. However this post isn't so much about that storm.

Abigail is sick. On Friday she was having flu like symptoms. I decided to take her in because Friday afternoon+flu+asthma=e.r. trip if not (remember this statement, it will hold some irony later). So the doctor does a flu test, negative, says it's viral and keep her hydrated, resting, and watch her temp. Saturday she is the same; extra snugly, but still playing quite a bit, and eating some. Sunday things start to change. She spent the whole day sleeping on Jason or me. We gave her ibuprofen before bed, and when it had enough time to kick in and she still felt really warm we took her temp. 104.7. To the e.r. we go. They do blood work, test her for the flu (again), strep, give her i.v. fluids (because her urine output had dropped) and sent us home with an official diagnoses of 'virus.' We had instructions to let our doctor know what is going on, and if she isn't better by Tuesday take her back to the doctor.
The whole time I'm holding her Monday while she sleeps all I can think about is the forecast of 1.5 in ice and snow. And then I can only envision an ambulance having to come. But viruses don't last too long so we should be fine.
Monday was met with temps of 105 if I didn't alternately give her Tylenol and ibuprofen every three hours. With the medicine it was staying between 102-103.
This morning she calls for me when she wakes up. I walk in hoping the fever is gone. It is not. I take her potty at which point she vomits, and is unable to pee. Call to the doctor and I'm told to go back to the e.r. for fluids. I'm in the e.r. for five minutes before the doctor walks in (who happened to be the same one from Sunday night) and tells us she is admitting us.
They bolused her (I think that's right) and started her on an i.v. for dehydration and low blood sugar (from not eating for three days). She perks up a little and her temperature comes back down (didn't know dehydration could = fever).
She finally pottied at 5 tonight. She went for 21 hours without peeing. It was making Mama pretty nervous.
So tonight as she's laying down getting ready to sleep her o2 stats drop to 88 and stay there. Her fever came back (although much lower), and she looks awful. She has none of her usual happy self in there. Just a pathetic look, sick eyes, and cantankerous spirit, none of which are who she is.
At this point she is on oxygen, and we are awaiting more testing. We know it's not the flu, RSV, strep, and lots of other things. Her chest x-ray was clear on Sunday, but they took another one tonight when her o2 dropped.
Mama is exhausted. It's odd to me how much different this is than the other medical stuff we deal with. Perhaps it is only because I have come to a place where I have a grasp of understanding on the other stuff. This is completely outside of anything I have dealt with, and feels uneasy since we don't know what's going on.