My First ER Visit

I got a call on Friday at 3:00 p.m. to come pick up Zoe from day care because she was running a fever of 102. I immediately left work and went and got her and you could tell she definitely had a temp. At my day care, they take a temp under the arm and always add one degree. Some do it and some don't. My pediatrican doesn't agree with the practice and I've always been able to take a good under arm temp from Zoe. They teach you well in the NICU. I've checked her under arm temp against a rectal temp, and there has only ever been a .2 or .3 difference. Of course, by this point I'm a little scared because Zoe hasn't ever had a fever that has gotten above 102. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing that number. Last night I did. I spoke with the on call pediatrician a few times last night trying to get her fever down (Tylenol didn't touch it) and then we noticed that she was starting to "pant" while she was trying to breath. So, I got the clock and we timed her reps per minute and she was at 62! That's extremely high. She should be around 30. So, I called Dr. Haraf back (the on call doctor with our pediatric group) and he calmly told me to give her another breathing treatment (we had just done one right before calling him) and to have Dad pack the car and get the car started so we could head to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. Let me tell you that was one scary ride in the car. When we got to the ER she had a rectal temp of 102.6 and her reps were still around 58. They did a chest x-ray, which showed no pneumonia, bronchitis, etc. It did show an asthmatic flare up, which was totally expected. The Vandy doctor said, "Frankly, I would be surprised if I didn't see it on the chest x-ray." She was swabbed for RSV and the Flu, both of which came back negative. They ended up giving her an oral dose of steroids, as well as Motrin to get to the fever down, and both seemed to work. I'm glad to say that by the time they discharged us at 4:30 this morning that she was in MUCH better shape. Of course, Mommy and Daddy had both been up for 24 hours by that time and when we got home we took little naps (about one hour each) before heading back to our pediatrician's office to get Zoe checked one more time and to decide on all of her medications. Dr. Haraf had already done rounds at Vandy that morning and had pulled up Zoe's chest x-ray while there and just generally wanted to know what had occurred. When we saw him this morning he was already informed on all of it so we, again, just needed to decide on all medications. Zoe is now on the following: OralPred (an oral steroid) once per day for the next four days; Xopenex (a fast acting bronchial dilator given via nebulizer) four times per day; Pulmicort (an inhaled steroid given via nebulizer) twice per day; Singulair once per day mixed in with her food; and an eye drop for pink eye! They decided that she has a viral infection from a certain class of viruses, all of which can really take a toll on children. They usually last anywhere from three to five days before they pass. Some cause diarrhea and puking (what you commonly see people on cruise ships suffering from) and others cause what has occurred in Zoe. She even has a rash on her belly from this thing. Three little boys in her class were out all of last week with fever, puking and diarrhea and I'm willing to bet Zoe caught it and it just acted differently in her. Another little boy was also out with pink eye, so I can pretty much guess where she got that one, too. However, the Vandy doctor said these viruses can also cause conjunctivitis in children. Who knew?!? I just felt so bad for her and, of course, the whole guilt thing kicked in all over again about having her in day care and all of the sickness she has suffered. I tell you there has to be a happy medium somewhere! The good thing in all of this? God always listens and He was definitely listening last night and this morning. I prayed hard that entire car ride (and many other times before that). I just want my little Zoe to continue to get well and, of course, we would like to get a little sleep. We took naps again this afternoon for a few hours, but we're at 38 hours or so with only three hours of sleep! Oh, well. I have found you'll do whatever is necessary for your child.