In Hospital

Ethan has been doing really well lately, but caught himself Influenza A recently and it is just too strong for him to beat at home. We managed for about a week at home, including a trip to the doctor for antibiotics. After we finished the course of antibiotics, he was still not well - working harder to breathe, throwing up anytime we tried to give him any of his formula and pretty lethargic so we brought him back to the doctor...who suggested we bring him to our children's emergency room.

That was Tuesday night, we've since been admitted to the critical care unit and he is getting high-flow oxygen delivered by nasal prongs. He was somewhat improved yesterday playing and smiling with me.

Then things went downhill. He became more lethargic and his oxygen requirements became increased and to say he was irritable is to put it mildly! I had left for a quick shower - felt good to wash off some of the grime of being in hospital - and when I returned he was really working hard to breathe, they had his oxygen set up to 100%, he was in rough shape and they were talking about intubating him.

After a chest x-ray it was found he had a significant pneumothorax or as they referred to it, pneumo. Say what?! Pneumo like pneumonia? Nope! Like in a leak in the lung causing air to build up between his lung and ribs. Sure explained his disposition though! Surprisingly his x-ray was textbook imaging of a pneumo...but in true Ethan style his presentation was anything but! Typically you do not hear lung sounds when this occurs, especially when it is as significant as his was. The treatment for a significant pneumo is to put a tube into the cavity between the lung and ribcage to vent out the air (which if it continues to grow can crush against the organs as it continues to build). The doctor who did the procedure did extra imaging to be sure the x-ray was correct!

Thanks to the attentiveness of his nurse, the nurse supervisor (who was his nurse the night before) the resident and rapid response of his doctor, they were able to deal with it relatively quickly. Although the tube is still in, the procedure was very successful. His oxygen needs have greatly decreased, he is working less to breathe and is improving. Apparently it can be pretty painful though and that seems to cause him a lot of discomfort. With sufficient pain meds he has been in a wakeful state all afternoon and even making vocalizations, smiling and playing with his hand again! :) Here's hoping he has a good night!

It has been almost two years since his last bad respiratory illness that saw us spend 11 days in critical care and another 6 days recovering on the pediatric wing.