On Feb 24th, we brought Haven into the walk-in. Despite having completed her antibiotics for her ear infections, she was still whiny and Haven is only whiny when she is sick. Her ears looked great, but she had some congestion, so she was prescribed an inhaler and given a breathing treatment.
On Feb 24th, Venily also started complaining of chest pains. It would come and go throughout the day and she kept pointing to the left side of her chest. After 3 days of this (on Feb 27th), we brought her into Dr. Bauer (the other pediatrician, since Dr. Welka is pretty much never there). Since she had thrown up in her mouth early that day and her heart and breathing sounded fine and her physical exam was fine, we decided that she might have acid reflux so she was put on acid reflux medication 2x a day and we were supposed to take that for a week and see if there was any improvements.
For a few days after each of their visits, they seemed to get a little better. Then they both got worse. Venily was still complaining of chest pains every single day, sometimes screaming b/c the pain was so intense. Haven was still raspy and had to take her inhaler each day.
On Thursday, March 1st, Haven woke up with a fever. After her nap, it went up to 103.5. I called the doctor and they didn't want to see her unless it wouldn't go down w/out medicine or if her breathing got worse (she was still taking the inhaler for her breathing).
On Friday, March 2nd, we got a call from school that Venily was crying and complaining of chest pain so we picked her up and brought her right to the walk-in. They checked her over again and gave her an xray, but said it looked fine and sent her home.
Also on Friday, Haven's fever continued. It was up to 103 again after her nap, but would go down with Ibuprofen, but she was still very whiny. Friday night, she started having a hard time breathing. She would whisper "Mommy (take a huge breath)... can I have (take a huge breath)... some milk? (huge breath)". It was pretty scary. She was also shivering like crazy despite her fever and her lips and fingers were blue. I called the on-call doctor (Dr. Joe) and he said to bring her into the emergency room since fever + breathing problems could be pneumonia.
Off to the e.r. we went. She was 102.9 when we got there and her lungs were a little congested. She got some Tylenol and another breathing treatment and then we got xrays of her lungs as well. Her xrays DID show pnemuenia so she was given a steroid, antibiotic, and told to continue her inhaler every 4 hours plus alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 4 hours for 24 hours!
When we got home, things were not going well for Venily. She was screaming in pain. My sister, Lisa, was watching Venily while we took Haven to the E.R. and she was freaking out at her and even yelled at her "I HATE YOU!" and slammed her bedroom door!! She'd fall asleep and wake up screaming some more. This went on all night, even after we got home and was the hardest thing in the world to take b/c there was nothing we could do to make it better. The next day, when she woke up, it was a lot better, but she was still complaining off and on. Saturday night got REALLY bad again. We had her packed up to go to the E.R. several times, but then she'd start feeling better. That night she slept with me and was moaning and crying most of the night. She woke up at 2:30am with severe pains that lasted all the way until 6:00am. She never even went back to sleep, would just doze off for a few seconds and wake back up crying again. It was TORTURE to listen to and not be able to help! I literally tried everything. :( I spent most of the night singing her songs and making up stories for her to listen to about entire worlds where everything is made out of candy.
On Sunday (Mar 4th), we called the Waterford Urgent Care and the woman said that she thought we should go to Children's in Milwaukee (b/c even though they could do the tests, the doctors at Children's are a lot better and have access to a lot more technology). So, off to Milwaukee Children's E.R. we went for the first time with either of our children! (the only time I've ever gone there was to visit Chase as a baby when he was having all of his problems and surgeries)
I must say, it was a great experience (and both the girls did remarkably well for having to sit in a small room for 5.5 hours)! All of the doctors and nurses were so nice and helpful and I loved the overall atmosphere there (which is SO important)! Venily got examined by numerous different nurses and doctors. Got an EKG done and her blood drawn and also got her chest xrayed (again!). Her EKG was fine. Her physical exam was fine- no problems with her breathing or bumps or enlarged anything, etc. Her blood work came back fine for white blood cells, but had elevated infection markers, which is why we were ordered to have another xray done. The xray was not definite, but the xray technicians and doctor did see something where she was having pain that could indicate pneumonia. It is a small area where there are some strands present, but where it's located is causing her a lot of pain. She was given an antibiotic (Cefdinir- which she has also NOT had since her allergic reaction to Amoxciliian). So we are hoping this helps and I'm also hoping she has no reaction to this antibiotic. And even though we had a great experience at Children's hospital, I am REALLY hoping that we never have to go back... and hoping we can stay out of the e.r. for a while now!!
Last night Venily woke up several times complaining of pain, but went back to sleep quickly afterwards (a HUGE improvement from the last several nights)! We had cushions, pillows, and blankets propping her up to an almost sitting position while she slept and I got into bed with her too at around 12:30am.
That is where we are now! We kept Venily home from school today even though she really wanted to go and we have a follow up appointment for both of the girls tomorrow morning with Dr. Bauer. And during that, we'll see if she can go to school tomorrow.
The E.R. doctor said that we were just really unlucky to have both girls end up with pneumonia! :(
Oh your poor girls!! :( It sucks so bad when they are sick, and even WORSE when you don't even know what is wrong, or how to help them! Hopefully they will both start to get better soon! ((HUGS))
ReplyDelete