A year ago this week my little floobuckle was only 3 years old and woke up with a super high temp, and threw up. I knew something wasn't right, and since I was leaving that arvo for my very first yoga retreat I wanted him to see a dr.
I put the kids in the car and raced to our family doctor who is about 45mins away. He threw up twice more on the way. I knew in my gut something wasn't right. We saw the dr who informed us he was positive it was a virus and would be gone within a day. So with that information, I left him with his dad and headed off for my retreat. My emotional and mental health hadn't been very good for the past few years so this weekend was not only important to me but for my family and marriage. Getting myself better was important and leaving my son with my husband was perfectly fine as I knew he would look after him well.
Retreat was beautiful, I was feeling refreshed and ready to take on being a better mum and wife with each session. At night I would text hubby to see how floobuckle was and he said he was ok not better but ok. Little did I know he was worried about him and had called the home doctor out. This doctor assured my husband he was ok and just had a virus.
Sunday arrived and it was time to leave retreat. Was so refreshed and excited to be heading home to my family, with a new outlook and energy in my life. I walked in to see my beautiful little floo lying on my husband, his little lips all blistered due to the high temps and he was so pale and skinny. So in 3 days he had really not gotten better at all. I was so heartbroken that I had gone to retreat and not been there for him and my husband, but I think going helped me to prepare for what was ahead.
His little body slept next to me that night and I could just feel something was wrong he was not breathing well and was so limp, he wouldn't walk and I had to put him in the ergo to drop my eldest at school.
That afternoon, I rang the health line and they said to see a doctor, but I knew I would be going to hospital straight away. So I packed him up and headed to the mater private. I was happy to part with some ridiculous amount of money for him to be seen and was lucky I did as the public was having a overflow of patients and he may not have been seen at all.
We saw a nurse, who said they would have to put a drip in in case he needed iv fluids, he didn't even flinch he was that exhausted and sick. We next had an X-ray. As I sat and waited to see what they thought it was I was beside myself with fear and worry. How could I have let my little boy get so sick, how can I make it better, why is he so ill.
The dr poked her head in and said in a very matter a fact way
"your son has pneumonia we will be admitting him"
And that was it, she never sat with me to explain anything or gently tell me my 3 year old actually had the worst case of pneumonia they had seen in a child. I was a mess, how could she be so cold to me, I know they must be busy but surely she could have given me 5 minutes to actually explain, and be polite enough to enter the room fully to tell me. this made me so worried.
I rang my husband in tears and explained our baby boy was so sick he would be staying in hospital.
He arrived a short time after to comfort me and help us over to the ward. We asked the lovely nurse if she could show us his X-ray and explain a little more what will be happening. His whole right top lung was covered in it no wonder his breathing was so short.
We arrived in the ward and were assigned our private room, unbeknown to us he was actually isolated as it was a respiratory illness.
This was the start of 10 days in hospital. He was given massive doses of penicillin and fluids, he had X-rays, ultrasounds and blood tests.
The night before my birthday we got the news that they thought he had Pleurisy, and that he may have to go under a general anaesthetic to drain it and maybe a central line to keep administering the antibiotics. We were so scared and worried for our little boy, he was so brave, enduring the wake ups and ultrasounds, and the blood tests and new ivs being put in.
That afternoon our wonderful paediatrician and surgeon told us they would not need to do the drain and we didn't have to put him under. Was the most wonderful news and the best birthday present ever!.
He slowly improved as the days went on but he still couldn't stop the fevers, which meant staying in longer. The physio was the worst when they would come and paddle his little back, he would sob and say it hurt so much. It was the hardest thing to watch.
We had so much support from my wonderful mum and dad, brother and his girlfriend, and my friends, everyone who visited, sent me messages and rang helped us through one the most difficult times. That meant the world to us, it was so lonely in that hospital, waiting everyday to see if he was getting better and going to be able to come home. And to have that support meant the world to us. I can only hope that no one I know has to go through something like this without support from their loved ones.
Eventually he went 24hours without a fever and we were allowed to go home, he had lost nearly 5kgs and was so tiny. We came home and tried to go back to normal. He was still on penicillin until the next day when he came out in a massive rash, so we had to stop that and give him something different. So now he has a penicillin allergy, which is nothing but still scary.
We have been very worried about the scarring from the pneumonia and he has had follow up X-rays, at the beginning of this year he had an X-ray to see the progress, and it has gone completely, there is no trace of any scarring or the pneumonia.
Since then I have had massive anxiety when it comes to sickness, if I hear of anyone who has been ill, even with just a tummy bug I freak out. I never want to have to go back into hospital again with my children cause the heartbreak and worry it causes is unimaginable. My heart breaks when I think of all the families who have to call the hospital home ,and my heart sings when I think of the wonderful nurses caring for these beautiful children and their families in their time of need.
So one year on and we are healthy, well we all have colds, but we are not ill and my floobuckle has started kindy and loving being a big kid, he often talks about hospital and how it was scary and it hurt, and I think it will stay with him for a while, it was scary and he was a different little boy when we left, but we have always tried to just be gentle with him and make sure he knows he is safe.
LOVE YOU LITTLE FLOOBUCKLE
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