Nothing is worse than seeing your child suffer and not being able to do anything about it.
One day life was fine and dandy, and then, all of the sudden, we were rushing our precious baby boy to the hospital by ambulance, desperately hoping that life-saving measures would not be needed along the way.
Needless to say, the last couple weeks have been a little intense.
When our nanny's son was diagnosed with croup, we knew that Ryder was probably in for it.
What is Croup?
Croup is an infection of the upper airway, generally in children, which obstructs breathing and causes a characteristic barking cough. The symptoms are the result of inflammation around the vocal cords, windpipe, and bronchial tubes.
Viral croup is most common, and symptoms are most severe in children 6 months to 3 years old. The symptoms are often worse at night, and when children are upset or crying. The effects of croup generally peak 2 to 3 days after they begin, and in the meantime home treatment includes helping the child get rest and plenty of fluids, and assisting their breathing by administering cool, moist air.
Croup usually isn't serious, and most cases can be treated at home. However, for a small percentage of children, croup can be severe and even life threatening.
Unfortunately, Ryder was one of these children.
The Nightmare Begins
As we suspected would happen, Ryder was diagnosed with croup just a few days after his little buddy. He was given a dose of oral steroids, and we prepared ourselves for a few sleepless nights with a sick little boy.
He clearly didn't feel good and was very clingy and whiny, but other than that his behavior wasn't out of the ordinary. As expected, nighttime was the worst. We slept with Ryder to monitor his breathing, and often had to take him outside into the cool night or early-morning air to help him breathe easier. After a couple days, he seemed to be getting much better.
The Emergency Room
Then Ryder had a particularly bad night, and by morning his breathing had become so labored that we became seriously concerned. After speaking to the on-call pediatric nurse, we rushed him to the emergency room. At the ER, Ryder was given a nebulizer breathing treatment containing epinephrine (adrenalin). This came in the form of a mist that must be inhaled into the lungs, and we had to hold our sweet boy down while he screamed in fear and pain as it was administered.
My heart just about broke into pieces.
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| Luckily he didn't mind this breathing treatment too much... |
After being kept several hours for observation, Ryder's condition seemed to improve (he even had a snack!), so they sent us home.
The Hospital
Over the next couple days, Ryder's condition remained pretty much the same. He was sick, but no sicker than any other little boy with a nasty case of croup. He had a cough and was struggling to breathe (at nighttime in particular). We thought he seemed to be getting better and was probably over the worst of it.
Then another particularly bad night struck, and the next morning we waited anxiously for the doctor's office to open. She agreed to see Ryder right away, and during the next few hours Ryder's condition deteriorated rapidly. As he gasped for air at the doctor's office, the decision was made to admit him to the hospital. I was frightened but tried to remain calm as a special pediatric doctor was summoned from Seattle out to our little local hospital in Issaquah, where he was born.
The doctor arrived, and Ryder was admitted to the pediatric wing of the hospital. By this time he was lying limply in my lap, eyes only partially open, gasping for air as if it was the only thing in the world his little body still had energy for.
Emergency Transport
After just a short period of time, the doctor explained to us that Ryder was much sicker than she had originally realized. She did not feel confident that the local hospital had the staff or equipment needed to treat him adequately. Terror flooded my body in a slow, cold rush.
My baby was very, very sick.
A respiratory specialist arrived to administer a medical high flow air-oxygen treatment while we waited for the Pediatric Transport Team to arrive from Seattle. They wanted a pediatric surgeon to be with Ryder every step of the way, in case life saving measures were necessary during the ride to the hospital. I felt like I was gasping for breath myself as everything was explained.
The ambulance ride into the city is a complete blur to me.
I rode in the back with my sweet baby and held his hand while he looked around dazedly at the monitors, tubes, wires, equipment, and masked faces around him. As confusion, fear and pain flickered across his face, I've never wanted to cuddle him up in my arms so badly.
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
When we arrived at Swedish Medical Center, we were rushed through a series of elevators and corridors to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. A team of doctors, nurses and specialists surrounded my baby while they hooked him up to a plethora of equipment as I watched helplessly from the hallway.
Finally, we were allowed in.
The PICU is a section of the hospital that provides sick children with the highest level of medical care. It allows for intensive nursing care and continuous monitoring of things like heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. It also allows the medical staff to provide intensive therapies like the high flow air treatment that provided Ryder with a constant stream of warm, humidified oxygen combined with helium (a much lighter, easier to breathe gas). The respiratory specialist was also able to use this system to administer periodic doses of epinephrine (so Ryder no longer had to endure the horror of being held down). Additionally, an IV constantly administered fluids and regular doses of a steroid that helped relax and open Ryder's airway to help ease his breathing, as well as pain medication to make him comfortable.
The Days Drag On...
Croup is a viral infection, so there was nothing anyone could give Ryder to "cure" him. Instead, the medical team did everything they could to monitor him and make him comfortable until his own body was able to fight off the virus.
We were told it could be days or even weeks before this might happen.
Ryder settled into his hospital bed, which meant that either Mommy or Daddy was always in the bed as well, cuddled up next to him, comforting, consoling, and whispering sweet nothings into his ears. For the first couple days he was too sick to smile, speak, or play. He just slept or stared dejectedly around the sterile hospital room.
We all tried to get rest, either in the hospital bed or on a little cot set up in the corner, but it was hard because of constant interruptions by beeping equipment and medical staff coming in to check Ryder's status and give us updates.
Ryder was such a trooper throughout the whole experience. Finally, on about the third day, he really started to improve. Slowly but surely they began to remove some of the equipment as the doctor became more confident in Ryder's ability to breathe on his own. Once the high flow air treatment was removed, he really seemed to perk up and act more like himself.
Going Home
The hospital staff was amazing. The food was ok. The TV was terrible. The monotony and boredom became unreal.
Finally, after four days and three nights in the PICU, we were released so that Ryder could continue his recovery at home. I have never been so happy to see a smile on that little boy's face, as he continually repeated,
"Home! Home!" as we packed up to leave.
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| It's a beautiful day to go home... |
Recovery
Ryder is feeling much, much better. He still has a lingering cough, and is clinging to Mom and Dad like his life depends on it, but he's essentially out of the woods.
Admitting your child to the hospital is not an experience I would wish on anyone. We were all terrified and confused, but the doctors, nurses and staff at Swedish Medical Center really did make our stay as pleasant as possible.
Thank you to everyone who called, messaged, visited and sent their best wishes for Ryder's swift recovery. We know that your positive energy helped him bounce back quickly.
We are so happy to have our happy, healthy boy back!
