We started the drive home expecting all to go smoothly. Grammie and I were talking about how smooth the day had gone and how early we were going to get home. We got out to the highway and Levi complained about being cold. We both looked at each other and determined that we both had on sweatshirts so maybe he was cold! We turned down the AC. A few minutes further down the road Levi started not breathing very well. He was gasping some, very throaty, very loud. We kept having him talk to us and were talking about how his minor runny nose must be getting worse. A few minutes later he said his neck hurt. I thought this was strange but we asked if his car seat straps were rubbing on it and we fixed his shirt to be a blocker between his straps and his neck. At this point Mom and I were both keeping a closer eye on him. It wasn't long after this that his skin started to get very marbled, his breathing was getting worse, and he seemed like he was going in and out of consciousness. We got him to talk to us and tell us that he wasn't feeling well so I pulled off at the next exit.
I got stopped at the exit and pulled him out of his car seat. I held him for a minute and then he curled up in the fetal position in the seat next to his car seat. He was shaking uncontrollably at this point. He just started yelling "it hurts, it hurts" we tried to get him to tell us what was hurting. When I got him to roll over he told me that his mouth hurt. When I looked at his tongue it looked a little weird but nothing crazy. I set him back in his car seat as a place of comfort for him and to keep him contained. I was trying to calm him down when he vomited everywhere. I leaned him forward and he vomited again. He was shaking and upset. We tried to get him calmed down and cleaned up. At this point we made the call that he definitely needed to be back at clinic. I called Dr. V's office and got S, who still hates us, and of course she wouldn't put me through to Dr. V or any nurse in clinic. I got a nurse from upstairs who couldn't tell you who Levi was from a million other kids. I was so angry. I hate how this women who knows nothing about our children can determine when and if we get to talk to their doctor, it's just not right! We got Levi cleaned up and in other clothes. Then he just wanted to be held and cuddled. I did the hardest thing at that point which was to look at him and tell him that I loved him but I had to strap him in his car seat so we could drive back to Dr. V. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said "I'm fine Mommy. I don't need to go back!" It about broke my heart.
At that point we got him buckled in and took off for the hospital. He seemed a little calmer and his drifting in and out seemed a little more like sleep then it had before, but he was so pale and was shaking with cold but was burning up. As I was getting on the highway I looked at my Mom and said "Mom, I'm just letting you know I'm going to speed!" she looked back at me and instead of saying "No, don't do that" or "don't break the law" or "Michelle we don't do that" or any number of the other lines I've heard in my lifetime, she looked at me with the mom eyes and simply said "Be safe!" That's the point that I knew for sure that I wasn't the only one who was scared, that I wasn't making a bigger deal of this in my head, that we really were dealing with a very serious situation! I put my flashers on, got in the fast lane, and just went for it. I don't know how fast I made the drive but it was fast. Thankfully the highway was fairly empty, and the few people who were out got out of our way, except for one idiot, I still don't know what his problem was, but he tried to run us off the road and swore at us! He took off faster then I was going and we never caught up to him thankfully. As we were getting off the highway we talked about what needed to be grabbed from the car so we were both ready to jump out as soon as we could.
We arrived at the hospital. As I pulled into the parking garage I saw an empty spot on the first floor and I took it. We jumped out of the car. I pulled Levi out of his car seat, Mom grabbed the diaper bag and spidey bear and we took off. We didn't quite run, but close. Levi was burning up and so out of it laying on me. He kept acting like he was going to vomit again and I just tried to keep him calm and told him to just let it out if he needed too (thankfully he didn't).
We got to clinic and Dr. V and Nurse T were on us the second we got in there. We explained what had happened to Dr. V and he listened to Levi. He said his lungs were clear. He felt his forehead and said "he doesn't feel that hot, but touch is never a great indicator". He seemed very calm and sorta like we were over reacting. We headed into the vitals room and there is where things got serious and I saw Dr. V's reaction and attitude change very quickly. When we had left clinic just over an hour ago Levi's temperature was 98.6, when they took it now, three times mind you, his Fever was now 102.9!
We were rushed back into the Jungle room where Levi had to get accessed. I hadn't even thought about this but of course he would need to be. His EMLA or numbing cream had long ago worn off. They used the freeze spray on him but he screamed that it hurt. Nurse T and Nurse S seemed a little like "it doesn't hurt buddy" and then I was like "I bet it does, he was accessed an hour ago, he has an open cut there, I bet it stings!" We only used the spray a little and then just went for it. Levi screamed! I am sure that had to hurt, that was a giant needle going in to his chest! I am so sorry sweetie. If I had thought I would have thrown cream on his port before the speedy drive. As soon as he was accessed and taped they started pushing fluids. I have never heard the pump make that much noise they were pushing them fast. All Levi wanted to do was curl up on me and I let him. He wanted a warm blanket and we got him one. He curled up on me and was out of it. I was boiling underneath him, between his heat and the warm blanket, but in that moment I didn't care, all that mattered was holding him and telling him how much I cared about him.
It was only minutes before they had a high dose of Tylenol for him. I gave him that and we settled in to wait. They took his temperature every few minutes to see what was going on, as well as looking at his skin, pulse, blood pressure, and O2. His heart was racing along with his temperature being elevated.
Dr. V came in to start talking about possibilities with us. He also mentioned how he was supposed to be leaving, but of course would be staying for a little while to monitor and make decisions and then after that Dr. C would be taking over. At this point there was no known reason for what caused this. They pulled the infusion reaction kit and did the blood work and urine sample for that so that everything could be tested. They started Levi on a large strong dose of a broad spectrum antibiotic as a precaution and told us that we would be spending the night at least for observation. Dr. C came in to take a look at Levi herself as well.
About 30 minutes after the tylenol Levi's fever broke and he started sweating like crazy. At this point he woke up and was still very cuddly but was a little more himself. Levi and I called Jay to tell him what was going on, while Grammie contacted other family members. Jay was worried about Levi but knew that he was in the best place possible.
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| Levi waving "Hi" to Daddy! |
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| Popsicle Number 1 on Mommy |
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| Popsicle Number 2 in the chair by himself. |
Levi had short bouts of being himself and would make lots of noise and play with cars, but had very long bouts of just being lethargic and laying around. We watched a lot of TV.
Once I got back to the room we settled in for what we expected to be a long night filled with very little sleep. Good night all!
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