Cason's Ride in the Ambulance

We had quite the eventful Sunday this weekend. Cason had been feeling great all week and acting perfectly normal. On Saturday afternoon, he got a bit of a clear runny nose but otherwise was feeling great with no other symptoms. We went to dinner Saturday night with our friends Eric and Amy and Cason was still doing great and acting his usual feisty self. Then, after we put him to bed, he seemed to be waking up every 30 minutes or so and having trouble getting comfortable (we were watching on the video monitor). He didn't ever cry or get upset so we just left him alone. About 4:30 he woke up crying and I went to check on him. His congestion had gotten a lot worse and he was experiencing labored breathing. He went right back to sleep but I was really nervous so I stayed in his room with him until around 7:00 when he got up for the day. He was in an okay mood but still having trouble with his breathing. You could see his little ribs and see and hear him working so hard to breath. The urgent care place for kids didn't open until 12:00 so we planned to wait until then and take him to get checked out. His breathing just kept getting worse and he became lethargic. He would take a couple of steps and then just lay down on the ground---which is VERY unlike him.

There was an Urgent Care place (not specifically for kids) by our house that opened at 9:00 so we took him in right after 9:00. They told us it was a 2-3 hour wait and I think they could see we were panicked. Since we were concerned with his breathing, they had a nurse come into the waiting room and check his oxygen level. It is supposed to be 100 and his was low 90's. Which to me didn't seem that low but apparently that is bad for a child his age so they saw us immediately.

He got upset while waiting for the doctor and threw up all over him and Scott---twice. They had to wear his throw up for the better part of the day. The doctor came in and said that we needed to go to the ER because there was nothing they could do for us there and he would need more tests. The doctor said he was so concerned that he thought we needed to be transported via ambulance. I was in shock! They had already called the paramedics and several of them came in to check on Cason. The paramedic said he thought we were probably fine to take him in our own car to the ER but the doctor insisted that we go in the ambulance. He said that if anything happened while we were in the car with his breathing that we were not trained to help Cason (plus I'm pretty sure that he would be the one liable if we took Cason in the car and something bad were to happen so he wanted to make sure he covered himself).

Therefore, Cason and I got loaded up in the ambulance to go to the ER (Scott followed us in the car). Poor Cason was strapped to a stretcher----it was SO SAD! He was fine though---he was just looking around at everything that was going on. He was on his 2nd breathing treatment and was doing a lot better while we were riding in the ambulance. The driver gave him this little bear to hold on to while he was riding.

As soon as we got to the ER, they had a room for us. We of course still did lots of waiting. Cason was fine the first hour or so----he just sat in my lap in the bed (he was exhausted from all that labored breathing). Then, he did start to get restless. They ran tests and he had a chest X-Ray. I couldn't go with him because I am pregnant but Scott said it was so pitiful. They strapped him to something with his arms straight up over his head. He had several breathing treatments while we were waiting which really seemed to help. I finally got him to fall asleep for about 45 minutes while we were waiting. The doctor came back in while Cason was sleeping and told us that he has a mild case of pneumonia. I can't believe my poor baby has pneumonia!  They had to give him some oral steroids and a shot of antibiotics in each of his legs. He was still asleep on my lap while they were getting him ready for his shots and that's how he got woken up----with a shot in each leg. He was SO mad and I don't blame him!

They said they would let us go home since they got his breathing under control but they said we would have to buy a nebulizer machine and give him breathing treatments and antibiotics at home. And that we needed to check in with our pediatrician today to make sure everything was still going okay.

He was feeling MUCH better today. I have to say though, that I think those breathing treatments are like speed for toddlers. He gets WILD after a treatment. I had to give him one right before we went to the pediatrician today and he was WIRED at the doctors office. The doctor thinks that most likely Cason's pneumonia is a result of the sinus/ear infection he had 2 weeks ago that didn't clear up in his lungs. Even though the drainage in his nose and ears had cleared up, apparently some of it had gotten into his lungs and caused the pneumonia. They gave us 2 more prescriptions at the pediatricians office today AND they drew blood to have him tested for allergies. They had to strap him down to a board and it took 4 people to accomplish the task but we were successful. We won't know the results for a few days. So in the mean time we are taking several medicines, resting, and will continue with the breathing treatments.

When we first took Cason in yesterday we assumed it was going to be RSV. The good thing about pneumonia, if there can be a good thing, is that they can treat it with antibiotics unlike RSV where there is no medicine you can take. The other good thing is that it is not contagious. We were worried about the RSV and me being pregnant but now we don't have to worry about that.

Please pray that our sweet little Cason gets well soon.

Here are some pics of him in the hospital bed. He is in a onesie I found in the bottom of the diaper bag---thank goodness we could take him out of his outfit that was covered in throw up. I did not have a change of clothes for poor Scott though.

Here he is about to get his blood drawn...

Here are a couple of pics from last week when Cason was obsessed with wearing my flip flops.....