Just wanted to give you all a little reminder... Leo and little children (children IN GENERAL) are extremely susceptible for all kinds of illnesses during this time of year. October-March is the absolute worst time of year for children. It's referred to as RSV season. This is when children like Leo get sick the most, need to stay isolated, parents and other adults need to be more mindful of germs that may pass onto their children. With this being said, I want to dive into why I named this blog "You're Not Failing, Momma" (this could also apply to all the Dads out there as well!)
Going home, I had multiple doctors make me aware that though we are discharged home - hospital trips/stays would happen quite often. They wanted to assure me that I wasn't a failure because of this, and it's just due to the nature of Leo having a trach. A trach child has no way of filtering the air they breathe. The stoma is literally a direct airway into the lungs. Leo gets sick around once a month. We can usually tell this by the color changes and odor of his secretions, him being limp while sleeping, not being as alert during the day, tiredness, agitation, and of course a temperature. We have learned all of this through time and unfortunately trial/error. There has been a couple times where we thought we were in the clear by just using tylenol to help with Leo's sickness, and then in the middle of the night we are driving him to the ER with a O2 sat of 70 while performing rescue breaths with our ambu-bag. Leo's been home for about 7 months now, and just these past 2 months we were able to catch his sickness before it worsened, and treat with antibiotics at home. It is 10/23/20 and Leo has been admitted since 10/18/20. Sunday, he didn't seem terrible. Maybe some trouble breathing, a couple d-sats, but when he gets so limp that he doesn't react to anything that's when we start to get nervous. The reason why we didn't just ask for antibiotics or this sickness is because he had literally finished a round of antibiotics on 10/13/20. So he was still sick after 5 days of finishing a whole 10 days of being on antibiotics. Turns out he has pneumonia and a staph growing in his trach. (this is completely "normal" for him) This happens every once in a while where his illness is worse than the normal case of tracheitis. Now we've been in the hospital longer than anticipated but only because we are working on modifying his medications so he doesn't create a mucous plug after each trach change. (Poor Bub's mucous is too thick that he plugs his trach, and he isn't able to breathe. There are medications to loosen the secretions to prevent this. They have been finding the perfect dosage for him) As of right now, the plan is to leave 10/23/20, TODAY! So I thought it was a good opportunity to write about it, and just say to everyone that you're not failing because of this. Kids like Leo get sick ALL the time. And when they do get sick, it's not the normal sickness. Their oxygen drops, heart rates could drop, emergency plans are created and followed through. This isn't because of something you did or didn't do. I don't get upset when he goes into the hospital anymore because I know I am taking the proper precautions, our nurse is, and other people in contact with Leo are as clean/careful as they can possibly be. You're the parent, and you'll learn/adapt to your child's sickness. Again, for the parents that need to hear it one more time - you are not a failure! This happens, and it will happen again in the future. Thanks, all !
1 Comment
Susan Rhoades..... aka Mema/Great mema
10/23/2020 12:09:38 pm
THANK YOU!!! I seem to worry way too much and you explaining Eve the way you have is so comforting .... to me.
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AuthorPresley T. Cruz Archives
January 2021
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