Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Reason

I finally have a chance explain why we're at Roanoke Children's hospital right now!

Lily has had a snotty nose and fever for the past five days. A few times she vomited after taking her amoxicillin. Yesterday morning, when she vomited twice more, I decided it was time to call the pediatrician to see if we could take her off the amoxicillin and try something else. When I talked to the nurse and explained what was going on, she wanted Lily to be seen by the doctor. Her pediatrician is on vacation this week so we were sent to another pediatrician who is covering for him.

We had an appointment at 6pm. We fully expected this to be a short, everything's fine, take her off the amoxicillin, etc, visit. The doctor was very nice and spent a loooooong time listening to her heart. Her oxygen saturation (in the blood) was low, however. While we were at the pediatricians office it never got above 74%. Most healthy adults and children have at least 95%+.

The doctor was concerned about her low oxygen saturation, the fact that she's had a fever for an extended period, her lack of medical history, her serious heart condition, and having Down syndrome also compromises the immune system. She said that Lily could get very sick, very quickly, and wanted to admit her to the hospital to be safe.

She didn't quite send us to Roanoke Children's by ambulance, but almost. We were able to go home and grab some stuff before driving up to Roanoke. Rob's parents met us at the hospital.

We were admitted and she was put on oxygen right away (the tubes going into her nose). Of course she hated that, so they had to put "no-no's" on her arms so she couldn't reach up and yank it off! Here's a picture from last night:
She also had a fever of 103 when she was admitted. She's been taking Tylenol for the fever and had the oxygen on all night. Her numbers have been getting better (higher), and it seems like her "baseline" is about 84%. Right now she is off the oxygen and her numbers are around 90%! We cheer every time it goes above 90 :)

Her heart catheter surgery for tomorrow has been canceled and we are waiting to hear back about rescheduling that. We *might* be discharged tonight! The latest would be sometime tomorrow. We will be getting an oxygen tank at home to use as needed, as well as a way to measure her numbers if we suspect they are low.

She was also given a strong antibiotic, but the doctors here think she just has a cold. They've done some blood work and her thyroid numbers came back high, so now they are doing more blood work to check that out. Her chest x-ray looked fine and her lungs are clear.

How you can pray specifically: for her oxygen saturation numbers to remain in the high 80s - low 90s without the oxygen. Also pray that she would get over this cold! I'm still feeling pretty awful so please also be praying for me to recover. Pray for a quick rescheduling of her heart cath surgery.

That was probably way more information than you wanted to know :). So that's where we are. Thank you for all the encouraging comments and suggestions on my previous post!

15 comments:

Felicity said...

Oh my, having a baby in hospital is so unsettling. I will be praying for you and for Lily that everything will work out well!

Rochelle said...

Absolutely the right amount of info. Thanks for updating so we can pray specifically for sweet Lily! Hang in there!

Stephanie @ Ralphcrew said...

So sorry! I hope you get her sprung tonight and that the cath gets rescheduled soon. They always made us wait 7 weeks, which was just enough time to get well and catch another cold!!

We had home oxygen for years, so feel free to call or email me.

Emilie said...

Her legs looks so much thicker than they did in the chicken pox photos!

Amber said...

Sweet girl! Hope that she is feeling much better soon and that you are too. Glad that they were able to help you out. Even though it is a pain, I'm always so glad when pediatricians are over cautious....also glad that they are doing blood work, esp with her history (lack of it). Hang in there. God is with you all!

Melissa said...

Praying for you and Lily! Glad her O2 levels are coming back up.

Cara said...

praying for your family! I'm so thankful you got her home when you did. I love that she has sweet parents to stay by her side when she's sick now. I hope she'll be feeling so much better soon and will be praying for endurance and rest for you and your husband.

Amanda said...

praying

Mommy to the A-Team said...

Praying for you. So glad she is doing better and you are headed home. Praying she continues to improve and that the heart cathe surgery can be rescheduled soon.

Melissa said...

Praying for you and Lillie, hope you can get home soon and get the surgery re-scheduled soon. I live in Roanoke if you need anything let me know!

Kate said...

I DO want to know! I'm praying for all three of you.
-Katie

Leslie said...

Sweet baby! I'm so sorry she has been feeling so crummy - and you too! Praying for healing. Praying for a successful heart cath. Praying God would meet your needs in ways that only He can.

Blessings
Leslie

Wife; Mom to the Six said...

Glad for the update! Sorry for all of you, esp sweet Lily! Once you get home, find her a liquid probiotic - it will help replenish her gut from the abx and also help boost her immune system. ZP has a terrible cold, lots of snot and coughing, and I am still trying to fight it off. Blech for feeling bad! Praying Lily has plenty of O2 and y'all can go home very soon!

Nicki said...

Jess, I can't believe all this ended up happening after you left Tuesday morning. I am so glad that it seems y'all are back home now, and I will continue to keep you in my prayers. This is not more information than I wanted to know -- I love that you so faithfully update this blog. Thank you for doing this and including us in Lily's journey.

Kellan's momma said...

Prayers coming your and Lily's way!! Poor sweetie! Hypothyroidism (when the TSH is high)is very common among Ds. They should be tested yearly for it starting at birth. Good to find out now though!