I also brought our Blockbuster movie to return on the way home and we talked about what we wanted to do on the way home while we were still out in the car...
On the way to the hospital, Jacob was pretty sleepy and tired. I had woke him up just before leaving so I wasn't too worried about it. He needed some time to wake up & he hadn't eaten anything yet. We arrived at the hospital & on our way through the revolving doors at the front, he asked for a bucket. I had left it in the car so he said he thought he could make it upstairs and we'd ask for some anti-nausea med when we got up there. We checked in at the front desk of the clinic and waited about 15 minutes for them to call his name.
The first thing they do is check vitals so we headed over to that area, checked his weight, height and blood pressure and then they hooked him up to the pulse-oximeter. ... 84. It needs to be above 90. The nurse asked him to take some deep breaths and when it didn't work, the number didn't go up... she sent us back to his room and hooked him up to an oxygen tank. Jacob just laid down on the table, put his blanket over his face and tried to sleep through the rest of the appointment. He was exhausted. (not suprising since he had been without sufficient oxygen for the last hour!) Then the doctors came back to see him and asked how he was doing at home. I told them that he had gone from needing 1 to needing 2 liters of oxygen at home and that once we got a pulse-oximeter set up at home and I was able to check him, I found that he was dropping oxygen levels even during the day while he was awake. There was a point on Sunday that he had dropped all the way down to 74. This was a little alarming so they asked some more questions and rather than giving him the anti-nausea med that he asked for, they said we will hook him up and give it to him in his room over in ICS.
Huh? ICS? ...are you admitting him? You got him a room already? Seriously??? Yup, he was being re-admitted to the hospital to run some tests and stay on oxygen. They ordered a CT on his abdomen and his chest to see his lungs.
Well, we assumed that we'd just have a comfortable bed and a TV for the day while they got his tests scheduled, done and then we'd be headed back home. ...wrong. We were in for the night, but maybe...just maybe we'd be able to go home in the morning if all the tests came back good. I was counting on that!
Morning came with orders for more tests. The radiologist from the night before had failed to do the CT they asked for and did an X-Ray instead. The Docs still wanted the CT so we waited out the day to get back downstairs for that. ...surely they'd let us go home then, right? --wrong again.
By Wednesday evening, the nurses & doctors had results from the CT's they had ordered. Although the abdominal CT checked out ok, the Chest one was really bad. He had stuff all over both of his lungs and his right was worse than the left. It didn't look like typical infection, but it was real bad and he was in no condition to go home. This was dangerous and it could turn bad quickly... so they said we'd be staying for at least a week while they wait for results, develop a treatment plan and hope to get him a little better before he'd be able to leave.
It's day 6 now, Sunday the 16th. I'm glad we brought that IPad, and the charger. It's been the #1 source of entertainment, distraction and time passer while we wait.
I learned an important lesson the hard way though... Never, ever, ever leave the house with Jacob without an overnight bag, Jacob's blanket and a cell phone charger. Oh, and don't plan on returning Blockbuster movies on the way home or making any important plans & appointments for later in the day. I'll just plan on packing up a stay-over bag and leaving supplies in my car from now on.
Liz, we are praying for Jacob everyday. (((HUGS)))
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