Sick, Sick, Sick...

Well, we are at it again...Another sick Christmas for the Lott family. Last week, 3 days before Christmas, Mina came down with a bad case of pneumonia...which is pretty bad, b/c Mina is never, ever sick. Seriously, in the 3 years that we have had her, she has never been sick...she woke up the Tuesday before Christmas with a 106 temperature. We immediately called her pediatrician, they sent us straight over to the Children's hospital in Atlanta. They immediately got a chest x-ray and then started an IV for labs and also took urine samples, just to cover all of their bases. At the end of the day, they sent us home, with a diagnosis of...something viral. WOW, gotta love that technical diagnosis SO, we went home, it was after 9 pm at that point, so we put her straight in bed. The next morning, when she woke up, she was vomiting mucous, and couldn't stand up, she was so dizzy, she fell every time she tried. Again, seeing how Mina has never been sick, I got worried and took her back to the pediatrician. Best decision EVER. She had developed a pretty nasty pneumonia. They put her on lots of meds, and by Christmas Eve, she was feeling much better.



Here she is in the ER!!!

However, by Christmas Eve, Michel had spiked a fever. His symptoms were a little different with Mina, and because of his asthma, he develops pneumonia VERY VERY quickly. His poor little lungs can't stand any little bugs, they just give in!!! SO, he started with a very high temp, and late Christmas Eve we took him to the ER. They said there was nothing they could do, the fever was just his body fighting off something!! Just to keep an eye on him, and nebulize him every 3 hours, because he was really wheezy. So, we headed home, and started nebulizing. Christmas day he woke up feeling better, no fever, and felt good enough to open his presents...so that he did. After we opened all of Santa's presents, we went to Emory's family and then mine...I guess the long day started to get to him, by the time we got to my parents house he was soooo tired, still no fever, just worn out...Probably the 1st sign that he was developing a pneumonia. So, after a quick stop at my aunt's house we headed home and put him to bed...Saturday was great...he played, no fever, he played some more, he and Aidan shot each other with NERF guns and had a blast...but by 11pm his fever was back with a vengeance. His temp was 104.9 and it was obvious he was miserable. We gave him tylenol and motrin every 4 hours, nebulized him every 3 and by 11 pm the next night, he couldn't breathe. We rushed him to the nearest ER, his asthma was out of control. I was devastated when I walked in and the ER was packed, I mean packed. They walked us over to the peds ER dept, and there was only standing room. UGH!!! I knew we were in for a long night, b/c I had told them he was having difficulty breathing, they triaged us immediately...YAY!!! He had a 105.5 temp, 86 SPO2, and was very much out of it, he had no idea where we were, or really at one point who I was...that was very concerning. So they immediately found us a room, and got everything going, he had an IV with fluids and antibiotics and 4 liters of oxygen going within 20 minutes of us arriving, chest xray was next, it came back with a nasty picture of pneumonia...they transferred Michel by ambulance to the nearest pediatric hospital to continue being observed...they thought with a round or 2 of IV antibiotics that we might be able to go home by Monday morning. No such luck...the ER doctor immediately admitted Michel to the ACU floor, where we are still sitting. His new doctor on this floor told us to settle in for at least several days, we will see. We had many improvements overnight last night, he still has fever, but they are not near as high, PRAISE THE LORD!!! No more oxygen, he is breathing room air now!! YAY!!! No more fluids, he is adequately hydrated now. YAY!!! So, this is where we are: still very diminished lung sounds on his left, and still nasty crackly sounds on his right. That is not good, and is not improving as fast as they would have hoped!!! But, we are breathing room air, so something is getting better!! His asthma is still out of control, so he is still getting around the clock breathing treatments!!! UGH!!! Last night was the first night that we both got a decent amount of sleep. I had not slept in almost 72 hours, because I had been dealing with sick kids, and spending all my time in the ER, but last night helped a lot!! I feel much better today!!! YAY for that too!!!

Anyway, thought I would give a quick update on how things are going...it is miserable to have a sick child, but I am so thankful for my parents and in-laws who are watching the other 3 kiddos so that Emory can keep working while we are stuck here!! It's so wonderful to have family that is understanding and willing to help at the drop of a hat. My sister helped my mom so she could come see Michel and bring us some clothes, she has been calling and checking on him, even in the midst of having a pretty sick kiddo herself, my younger brother Parker, works here at the hospital, and has come by several times to love on his nephew, which Michel has LOOOVED!!! Parker has also sent by the child life specialist who brought by some toys for whenever Michel feels up to playing!!! Thanks to Parker, Michel and I are getting lots of special treatment, everyone knows Parker and they all LOOOOVE him!!! :) That is always GREAT!!!! My in-laws had the kiddos all day yesterday, and my parents kept them overnight and all day today, I feel so bad b/c they are juggling between my dads work and also a dr.'s appointment for my little bro JI!!! Again, we are so lucky to have lots of help from our family!!!



Here is Michel, disconnected from all of his wires, he is a happy, happy boy!!! A free man!!

Okay, I will update more as we have it!! I was hoping maybe we could go home today since we no longer needed the O2 and fluids, but they said probably not until tomorrow night at the earliest!! UGH!!!! Thanks for the prayers!!!