Thursday, October 15, 2009

Our Roller Coaster Ride

When Andrea was first born and in the NICU, many of the doctors and nurses warned us that the experience would be a roller coaster. We were told to expect "one step forward and two steps back". We were fortunate to have not had that experience with Andrea. With one exception, her NICU time was relatively uneventful. All the really awful things we could have endured never materialized.

Now that Andrea is home, we seem to have gotten on the roller coaster. For the last few days, Andrea has had a slight stuffy nose. Wednesday, it spread to a cough in her chest, and we were in the Morristown Hospital Emergency Room that night. The outcome was that she probably has a viral infection, and there's not much we can do except keep her comfortable and suction her nose to help her breathe.

Thursday during the day, her cough kept getting worse, and I took Andrea to see her doctor. By that time, she was really wheezing, and the doctor called Andrea's pulmonologist. Her regular doctor was away, but a covering doctor agreed to see her. Off we went to the pulmonologist. A respiratory therapist spent an hour with us, giving Andrea a breathing treatment and some chest compressions to loosen the congestion. After the doctor examined Andrea, we were home again, (much to my relief) with some medication, including an oral steroid. We have to give Andrea breathing treatments with Abuterol several times a day and suction her out to try to keep the gunk from building up in her nose. I'll call the doctor tomorrow for follow up, and we'll see where we are.

I'm wiped out! The constant stress is draining, and there is little we can do about it. Right now, we just keep waiting for Andrea to be bigger and stronger. We were thrilled that she was able to try to fight this illness at home, since having her in the hospital is hard on our whole family. Still, it's hard when the children are sick, and even more worrisome with Andrea, given her history.

I will post an update when we know more. Right now, she's holding her own, which is all we can ask of her.

When you think of life, think first about the blessings you have. Don't focus on misfortunes, for they are but a faint shadow.
Catherine Pulsifer, from Many Blessings

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