So, I don’t really have a lot to update from yesterday.
Firstly, Gwendolyn’s apnea has unfortunately gotten worse. Last night, she stopped breathing between three and five times an hour (that wasn’t a typo… I did NOT mean to say three to five times the entire night but each and every hour. In fact, I'm sad to say that it happened four times just during the course of me penning this post tonight!). Every time, the bedside monitor alarm went off and nurses came running into our room. Let’s just say that neither Gwen nor daddy got a whole lot of sleep last night.
Other than that, the hospital pediatrician still feels as though the cause for her breathing issues is a combination of reflux and an upper-respiratory virus. Unfortunately, they still have yet to be able to identify the second part to that equation. They put Gwen on some medication to hopefully curb the reflux. However, no medicine can be dispensed on the other item until the issue is diagnosed.
We had hoped that the first cultures would be back today but they still aren’t done yet. The other set of cultures won’t be started until tomorrow. Strange to think my daughter’s health hinges on a set of petri dishes in some libratory. Regardless, if the cause of her respiratory issues doesn’t show until the completion of that second culture, it might still be another few days until we even know WHAT the culprit is. Then we’ll finally be able to begin treating her. Right now, that’s really the scariest part. Even with the reflux treatment we’ve started, I fear that Gwen’s due for a few more difficult nights as whatever virus this is continues to cause congestion.
Again, thank goodness Heather was so diligent about getting this checked out. The way things have transpired, we could have easily been at home before things got REALLY bad like it has the last 24 hours or so. I can’t imagine being at home while this was all unfolding and having to scurry to the emergency room!
So as you can see, I really just have a whole lot of the same to report… Gwen’s getting great care but we still don’t know what the exact respiratory virus is that she’s contracted. As a result, she stops breathing on a fairly regular basis as she sleeps in between her feedings.
I do have a couple of quotes from our neurosurgeon (who I think bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future fame, just with slightly shorter hair… but I digress) that I found entertaining and wanted to share. On the topic of my daughter’s feistiness, he coyly looked at me with a wry smile and said, “Yes, it's obvious that this child doesn’t like to be messed with at all.” That’s my girl!
His other quote to me was that I needed to get more sleep tonight because he’s “...the one that gets paid to stay up and worry all night.” Yeah, because it’s so easy to sleep when you know that at any minute, your daughter is going to stop breathing. And even if I COULD talk myself into sleeping under those circumstances, the blaring of the monitor going off when Gwen does stop breathing would render the practice impossible.
Regardless, that’s all I have for this post. So much for not having much to write I guess. I do hope all you ghosts and goblins had a great day today. Here’s hoping that we get an answer or two tomorrow.
Firstly, Gwendolyn’s apnea has unfortunately gotten worse. Last night, she stopped breathing between three and five times an hour (that wasn’t a typo… I did NOT mean to say three to five times the entire night but each and every hour. In fact, I'm sad to say that it happened four times just during the course of me penning this post tonight!). Every time, the bedside monitor alarm went off and nurses came running into our room. Let’s just say that neither Gwen nor daddy got a whole lot of sleep last night.
Other than that, the hospital pediatrician still feels as though the cause for her breathing issues is a combination of reflux and an upper-respiratory virus. Unfortunately, they still have yet to be able to identify the second part to that equation. They put Gwen on some medication to hopefully curb the reflux. However, no medicine can be dispensed on the other item until the issue is diagnosed.
We had hoped that the first cultures would be back today but they still aren’t done yet. The other set of cultures won’t be started until tomorrow. Strange to think my daughter’s health hinges on a set of petri dishes in some libratory. Regardless, if the cause of her respiratory issues doesn’t show until the completion of that second culture, it might still be another few days until we even know WHAT the culprit is. Then we’ll finally be able to begin treating her. Right now, that’s really the scariest part. Even with the reflux treatment we’ve started, I fear that Gwen’s due for a few more difficult nights as whatever virus this is continues to cause congestion.
Again, thank goodness Heather was so diligent about getting this checked out. The way things have transpired, we could have easily been at home before things got REALLY bad like it has the last 24 hours or so. I can’t imagine being at home while this was all unfolding and having to scurry to the emergency room!
So as you can see, I really just have a whole lot of the same to report… Gwen’s getting great care but we still don’t know what the exact respiratory virus is that she’s contracted. As a result, she stops breathing on a fairly regular basis as she sleeps in between her feedings.
I do have a couple of quotes from our neurosurgeon (who I think bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future fame, just with slightly shorter hair… but I digress) that I found entertaining and wanted to share. On the topic of my daughter’s feistiness, he coyly looked at me with a wry smile and said, “Yes, it's obvious that this child doesn’t like to be messed with at all.” That’s my girl!
His other quote to me was that I needed to get more sleep tonight because he’s “...the one that gets paid to stay up and worry all night.” Yeah, because it’s so easy to sleep when you know that at any minute, your daughter is going to stop breathing. And even if I COULD talk myself into sleeping under those circumstances, the blaring of the monitor going off when Gwen does stop breathing would render the practice impossible.
Regardless, that’s all I have for this post. So much for not having much to write I guess. I do hope all you ghosts and goblins had a great day today. Here’s hoping that we get an answer or two tomorrow.
We are keeping you all, especially Gwen, in our prayers.
ReplyDeleteChuck and Heather - I pray that little Gwen is able to heal up from the virus quickly and those docs can get her better very soon. I just wish there was something that I could do to help you both. Please call if you need anything. Love you all!!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Chuck - You are a very clever writer...despite the content is not what you should have to face. Keep it up!