I know the only people reading a blog on a Friday night are goobers who don't have plans beyond a few glasses of wine and a family movie on Netflix.
JUST LIKE ME!!
This is your tribe, people.
So, yes, I am feeling very relieved. We talked to the pulminologist today and saw the pediatrician. And it appears that, indeed, last night's hellish bad numbers were the trough. And Bridget is getting better. After she and I both took a long nap this afternoon, her numbers are *stellar*. Either the prednisone kicked in or she coughed up that big loogie of a lung bugger that was blocking her airways.
IMAGES OF BEAUTY AND JOY!!
And now that the crisis is over, my family is annoying the freaking hell out of me. I have been so freakingly freaking effed the freak stressed this week. I've had little sleep and accomplished less work in a time of the school year when I need productivity and smart thoughts to be shooting out of every orifice.
Of course, I had to focus on the Squirrel. I wanted to be there for her. But we're out of the woods. And I want them all to STOP YELLING and BE QUIET and CLEAN UP and Let me have a moment to myself. DO THEY HAVE TO EAT EVERY DAY!?!?!
5 minutes. Just let me have some peace and quiet and healing for FIVE FREAKING MINUTES.
And now you see why, after being Super Mom for the last 5 days, I will never, ever, ever, ever win Mother Of The Year.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Bargaining with Pulse Oximeter Numbers
I've noticed a trend among mother' named Anita with crazy curly hair. Ok Me. This is all me. This all crazy me. This is all crazy me and why people with mild anxiety should not have data producting instruments that can freak them out.
So when Bridget first gets sick, I worry because her O2 numbers start to hang around 96. I generally consider this a "B grade" amount of oxygen. I'm a professor. I think in terms of grades. I prefer As. I'm a professor! As I tell my undergrads, Bs are not a problem, but I also know it's not typical for her and something is going on in her lungs.
Then as she starts getting sicker and her numbers get lower, I get so excited when I see a 96. When 96 makes me relieved instead of worried, then we have problems. That's when I turn into some kind of reverse auctioneer trying to will her numbers higher.
Can I get a 95? 95? 95? Sold at 95! At least it's not a 94.
Oh, I see a 94. 94? 94? 94? 95!!! Oh, back to 94. And holding. Well, we're still above 93.
Oh, I got a 93. 93. 93. 94. 93. 93. 93. 96!!! 95!! 94...93. 93. 93. At least it's not 92.
And so on.
Sometimes I try to sneak up on the numbers. Usually this game is going on during the night and I'll close my eyes for a few minutes and then sneak a peak. This is good when I spot a 94 or a 95 and pretty adrenaline shooting shitty when it's a 91.
We are doing all the right things we can do at home. We started prednisone at the right time, definitely not too soon and definitely not for shits and giggles. Yesterday was great. Bridge had lots of energy and great numbers. And she wasn't coughing much. ((Cue the foreboding music.)) I had to teach last night and just before I left she had a coughing fit that caused some 80s to show up on her pulse ox.*** ((again, haven't seen that since the last hospital visit)) Dave texted me in class that her numbers were all high 90s!!! ((He is not a crazy, curly headed, slightly anxious woman))
She was in bed by the time I got home and when I checked her numbers they were an extremely steady 93. When asked how he could explain the discrepancy from the texts and the numbers, Dave shrugged and said "You?!"
Probably.
She spent more time in the low 90s, even with all my reverse bargaining. This morning when I woke up she was hanging in the upper 80s and low 90s. We did a full treatment at 4:30 am an now she's back asleep, ironically at 96.
I'm not excited about that number (Still!! So difficult to please) mainly because it's the max now, not the min.
I don't know what's going to happen. We've never been here before. We've either started the prednisone in the hospital or used it when there was no need. We are definitely doing the right things here at home. I just don't know what's happening inside her lungs and whether her funky hypsersecreious asthma doesn't give two flying fig newtons about that extra prednisone as it fills her lungs with gunk. ((That is what I think happens when she stops coughing for a period of time. The gunk is filling up her the bottom of her lungs and causing atelectasis))
And now you know.
Still hanging at 96. Sold! To the whackadoodle mama in her Hello Kitty pjs.
UPDATED: And as is what always happens when I'm bargaining/bidding, the numbers are still going down and I should have locked it in at that better price. I'm sure there will be more updates in the future.
***Please! Someone draw me a pulse ox!!
So when Bridget first gets sick, I worry because her O2 numbers start to hang around 96. I generally consider this a "B grade" amount of oxygen. I'm a professor. I think in terms of grades. I prefer As. I'm a professor! As I tell my undergrads, Bs are not a problem, but I also know it's not typical for her and something is going on in her lungs.
Then as she starts getting sicker and her numbers get lower, I get so excited when I see a 96. When 96 makes me relieved instead of worried, then we have problems. That's when I turn into some kind of reverse auctioneer trying to will her numbers higher.
Can I get a 95? 95? 95? Sold at 95! At least it's not a 94.
Oh, I see a 94. 94? 94? 94? 95!!! Oh, back to 94. And holding. Well, we're still above 93.
Oh, I got a 93. 93. 93. 94. 93. 93. 93. 96!!! 95!! 94...93. 93. 93. At least it's not 92.
And so on.
Sometimes I try to sneak up on the numbers. Usually this game is going on during the night and I'll close my eyes for a few minutes and then sneak a peak. This is good when I spot a 94 or a 95 and pretty adrenaline shooting shitty when it's a 91.
We are doing all the right things we can do at home. We started prednisone at the right time, definitely not too soon and definitely not for shits and giggles. Yesterday was great. Bridge had lots of energy and great numbers. And she wasn't coughing much. ((Cue the foreboding music.)) I had to teach last night and just before I left she had a coughing fit that caused some 80s to show up on her pulse ox.*** ((again, haven't seen that since the last hospital visit)) Dave texted me in class that her numbers were all high 90s!!! ((He is not a crazy, curly headed, slightly anxious woman))
She was in bed by the time I got home and when I checked her numbers they were an extremely steady 93. When asked how he could explain the discrepancy from the texts and the numbers, Dave shrugged and said "You?!"
Probably.
She spent more time in the low 90s, even with all my reverse bargaining. This morning when I woke up she was hanging in the upper 80s and low 90s. We did a full treatment at 4:30 am an now she's back asleep, ironically at 96.
I'm not excited about that number (Still!! So difficult to please) mainly because it's the max now, not the min.
I don't know what's going to happen. We've never been here before. We've either started the prednisone in the hospital or used it when there was no need. We are definitely doing the right things here at home. I just don't know what's happening inside her lungs and whether her funky hypsersecreious asthma doesn't give two flying fig newtons about that extra prednisone as it fills her lungs with gunk. ((That is what I think happens when she stops coughing for a period of time. The gunk is filling up her the bottom of her lungs and causing atelectasis))
And now you know.
Still hanging at 96. Sold! To the whackadoodle mama in her Hello Kitty pjs.
UPDATED: And as is what always happens when I'm bargaining/bidding, the numbers are still going down and I should have locked it in at that better price. I'm sure there will be more updates in the future.
***Please! Someone draw me a pulse ox!!
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Enterovirus D68.....*Maybe*
I do not want to hysterically claim that Bridget has EV D68!! Bridget has EV D68!! We have no idea. It's *possible* she does. And she will not be tested for it because she is not going to PICU. In fact, she is not going to the hospital (thank you, starting prednisone early enough!!!)
But we do know she has one of the bad respiratory viruses. And we know that EV D68 is in Charlotte, along with RSV, the Flu, and "A Flu Like Virus." (Actual CDC tests paid for by the hospitals say so) And through the process of elimination, it seems more likely to be an enterovirus than the other ones.
How come?
Croupy cough at the beginning signalling "something." Low grade fever at 100. Most docs don't even count that as a fever. Puking at school. (LOVELY!) and complaining of a stomach ache the entire time. Gas that could bring chili-bingeing sumo wrestlers to their knees. (LORD!) And that cough. That mucus-y, body shaking cough.
I think Bridget is going to stay out of the hospital for a couple of reasons. First, that child can cough. Even when it burns and stings, she continues to cough. I'm very proud of her. It hurts. It tires her. But she keeps coughing.
Second, I credit the emergency prednisone our pulminologist gave us. EVD68 is infamous for turning bad quickly. For most of the week, Bridget's O2 has stayed around the upper 90s with a low around 95 to 96. That's fine. Then last night, her max was a 95 and she was hanging at 92 to 93. That's not a number with which to rush to the hospital. But we've seen that trend before. The she started dipping into the 80s and flirting with some steady 90 readings. Them there are hospital numbers.
So I broke open the emergency prednisone (or unscrewed the childproof top) and dosed her up. 6 hours later (I think that's how long it takes to work???), she has back up to 96 asleep and 98 awake.
We'll see what happens this afternoon and tonight.
So far, with the previous trips to the hospital, we didn't start prednisone until we ARRIVED and her lungs were full of crap. I'm really hoping that we're ahead of the curve here and will keep ahead of, on top of, and/or out of the way of the phlegm in her lungs.
I really think we're going to be ok.
But we do know she has one of the bad respiratory viruses. And we know that EV D68 is in Charlotte, along with RSV, the Flu, and "A Flu Like Virus." (Actual CDC tests paid for by the hospitals say so) And through the process of elimination, it seems more likely to be an enterovirus than the other ones.
How come?
Croupy cough at the beginning signalling "something." Low grade fever at 100. Most docs don't even count that as a fever. Puking at school. (LOVELY!) and complaining of a stomach ache the entire time. Gas that could bring chili-bingeing sumo wrestlers to their knees. (LORD!) And that cough. That mucus-y, body shaking cough.
I think Bridget is going to stay out of the hospital for a couple of reasons. First, that child can cough. Even when it burns and stings, she continues to cough. I'm very proud of her. It hurts. It tires her. But she keeps coughing.
Second, I credit the emergency prednisone our pulminologist gave us. EVD68 is infamous for turning bad quickly. For most of the week, Bridget's O2 has stayed around the upper 90s with a low around 95 to 96. That's fine. Then last night, her max was a 95 and she was hanging at 92 to 93. That's not a number with which to rush to the hospital. But we've seen that trend before. The she started dipping into the 80s and flirting with some steady 90 readings. Them there are hospital numbers.
So I broke open the emergency prednisone (or unscrewed the childproof top) and dosed her up. 6 hours later (I think that's how long it takes to work???), she has back up to 96 asleep and 98 awake.
We'll see what happens this afternoon and tonight.
So far, with the previous trips to the hospital, we didn't start prednisone until we ARRIVED and her lungs were full of crap. I'm really hoping that we're ahead of the curve here and will keep ahead of, on top of, and/or out of the way of the phlegm in her lungs.
I really think we're going to be ok.
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