Hello, Team Naaman, Happy Palm Sunday.
This little dude kept us busy this past week. Hopefully you all saw the update that he visited the ED last last Thursday 3/26 with a fever. He was diagnosied with bronchiolitis (respiratory virus) and also went to get tested for COVID the next day at the drive-through testing. They’re so busy right now that even expedited testing for an immunocompromised kid took seven days. He was negative, thankfully, but we keep ourselves completely quarantined anyway.
He seemed more sick during the week with cold and cough symptoms, but was okay otherwise. Yesterday (Saturday) he was pretty miserable. Coughing more, more thick snot from eyes/ears/nose, and complaining “my body hurts.” He spiked a fever around 6:00 pm, so we had to go in. (Until he is out of treatment in November 2021, every fever means and ER trip – or clinic visit if they’re open).
It was a big surprise because he didn’t appear to have trouble breathing that his blood oxygen levels were low and he needed oxygen right away. The the same drill: port blood draw, peripheral blood draw, chest X-ray, antibiotics. They tested him for COVID again with rapid response testing. To date, his blood cultures are negative for other infection or virus. His chest X-ray is consistent with his previous diagnosis of bronchiolitis. And COVID was negative again. Why was it so fast last night but so long last week? We were waiting in the ED to be admitted, and needed to know which type of room he needed, regular oncology room or negative pressure room for a COVID + patient. It makes sense why patients in the ED on oxygen need the testing completed first, and we have personally seen how busy the testing sites are.
The staff were so attentive, cheerful, and prompt. Still, it was a tough ER visit and we did have to stay the night upstairs on the oncology floor because he needed oxygen. Now that he is older, he is also a bit more feisty with the staff. When we arrived upstairs to the oncology unit from the ED, he “told” on the ED nurse, pointing to her and telling his oncology nurses, “She hurts me!” He was so wary of everyone trying to do something else to him that he wouldn’t go to sleep until 1:00 am when everyone was finally cleared out of our room. You can see him in the photo sitting firmly at attention, hating his nasal cannula.
On a bright note, we got to come home by noon today (Sunday), since he could maintain lower but decent oxygen levels without support. He’s better home than in the hospital where he can contract something else. He’s got an inhaler to use every four hours and we have to keep a close eye on his breathing.
Praying for no fevers and healthy, easy breathing. Thursday he has chemo, so we know he will get checked up later this week, too.
Disclaimer: This was written on three hours’ sleep and a raging headache, so hoping you can make sense of it!
1 thought on “One-night stay at YNHH”
Uff sounds like a tough trip. Happy to hear you’re back home❤️.
PS love the disclaimer! Haha