On Friday, September 25th, Isaac started to show signs of labored breathing. He had been developing a cold all week, but we weren't too concerned. We knew it was likely croup, and figured it was just his turn with this common childhood illness. By Saturday noon, we were getting a bit more worried, and decided to take Isaac to a walk-in clinic "just to be safe". The doctor there immediately gave Isaac an epinephran mask to open up his airway, and sent us straight to the hospital. In the ER, they gave Isaac the typical dose of prednisone (a steroid to reduce the inflamation in his airway), and several more masks. We were actually told to go home - they was sure Isaac would be fine. We weren't so confident, so we stayed put. Isaac didn't show much improvement, so they ended up admitting him overnight. Little did we know at that time where this all would end up! Over the next several days, Isaac just did not respond to the increased amount of steroids he was given. The doctors wondered if something other than croup was going on, so they did x-rays, and tested him for every type of virus and bacterial infection they could think of, but nothing came back positive.
By Wednesday, September 30th, Isaac had gotten significantly worse. He and I were taken by helicoptor that afternoon to Children's Hospital. The ENT (ear, nose, throat specialist) at Children's did a laryngoscopy - put a camera down his throat, only to his vocal chords. He didn't see anything unusual, and confirmed the diagnosis of croup. At the time, he didn't feel it was worth the risk to put the camera down past Isaac's vocal chords. We stayed in the ICU at Children's for 3 days.
On Friday, October 2nd, we were taken back to Abbotsford Regional Hospital by transfer ambulance, as Children's didn't feel there was anything more they could do for him. Over the next several days, Isaac showed no improvement, and actually began to need the epinephran mask more and more often to allow him to breathe. Our pediatrican there consulted with the ENT at Children's that Isaac had seen, and he decided he wanted him to come back so he could take a more extensive look at him.
On Wednesday, October 7th, Isaac and I came back to Children's by transfer ambulance. We waited in emergency for 7 hours, until the OR was finally free. Isaac was having great difficulty breathing - it took every effort he had just to get a breath in, despite regular epinephran masks. Finally, at 5:30, the ENT was able to do a bronchoscopy on Isaac. He put a rigid instrument with a camera all the way down his airway, past the vocal chords. When the ENT finally came out of the OR to talk to us, he didn't have good news. He had discovered that only 10% of Isaac's airway was open. His trachea was extremely swollen and bleeding. The ENT said this was the worst case of croup he had ever seen. He said he had to intubate him right away (put a breathing tube down his throat), or his airway would have closed within a few hours, and we likely would have lost him. We were shocked and scared - no parent wants to hear news like that.
So, since that night, Isaac has been hooked up to a ventilator in the ICU at Children's. He has to stay sedated so that he can't pull the tube out. He has been quite resistant to the sedation drugs, so he is on very high doses, and also has to be paralyzed every few hours to keep him still. Our boy is a fighter! We are now waiting to see if Isaac's airway will heal on it's own. If it doesn't, then the ENT will take out the tube and give Isaac a tracheostomy to breathe through instead. That would allow Isaac's airway to heal with nothing in it. We are hoping it doesn't come to that, but are willing to do anything to keep our little boy alive. We have felt very confident in all the doctors that are treating Isaac, and we have received superb care from the nurses.
By Wednesday, September 30th, Isaac had gotten significantly worse. He and I were taken by helicoptor that afternoon to Children's Hospital. The ENT (ear, nose, throat specialist) at Children's did a laryngoscopy - put a camera down his throat, only to his vocal chords. He didn't see anything unusual, and confirmed the diagnosis of croup. At the time, he didn't feel it was worth the risk to put the camera down past Isaac's vocal chords. We stayed in the ICU at Children's for 3 days.
On Friday, October 2nd, we were taken back to Abbotsford Regional Hospital by transfer ambulance, as Children's didn't feel there was anything more they could do for him. Over the next several days, Isaac showed no improvement, and actually began to need the epinephran mask more and more often to allow him to breathe. Our pediatrican there consulted with the ENT at Children's that Isaac had seen, and he decided he wanted him to come back so he could take a more extensive look at him.
On Wednesday, October 7th, Isaac and I came back to Children's by transfer ambulance. We waited in emergency for 7 hours, until the OR was finally free. Isaac was having great difficulty breathing - it took every effort he had just to get a breath in, despite regular epinephran masks. Finally, at 5:30, the ENT was able to do a bronchoscopy on Isaac. He put a rigid instrument with a camera all the way down his airway, past the vocal chords. When the ENT finally came out of the OR to talk to us, he didn't have good news. He had discovered that only 10% of Isaac's airway was open. His trachea was extremely swollen and bleeding. The ENT said this was the worst case of croup he had ever seen. He said he had to intubate him right away (put a breathing tube down his throat), or his airway would have closed within a few hours, and we likely would have lost him. We were shocked and scared - no parent wants to hear news like that.
So, since that night, Isaac has been hooked up to a ventilator in the ICU at Children's. He has to stay sedated so that he can't pull the tube out. He has been quite resistant to the sedation drugs, so he is on very high doses, and also has to be paralyzed every few hours to keep him still. Our boy is a fighter! We are now waiting to see if Isaac's airway will heal on it's own. If it doesn't, then the ENT will take out the tube and give Isaac a tracheostomy to breathe through instead. That would allow Isaac's airway to heal with nothing in it. We are hoping it doesn't come to that, but are willing to do anything to keep our little boy alive. We have felt very confident in all the doctors that are treating Isaac, and we have received superb care from the nurses.
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