Laundry. Dishes. Catching up on work. Watching an episode of True Detective. These are the things I thought I might be doing on a Tuesday night.
Aidan had other plans.
Aidan usually has other plans.
It started on Monday. Aidan's teacher had called to let me know he seemed "off" and "half of his head had a fever" (???) When we got him home, he seemed happy and playful, so we weren't too concerned. I was in the kitchen washing some dishes when he ran over and asked, rather frantically, that I take his sweatshirt off. I guess his fever was spiking pretty rapidly at that point. I thought he was just being Aidan and/or Three Years Old, so I told him to be patient until I was finished. No more than five minutes later, I joined him in the living room as he projectile vomited all over the living room floor. His temperature (on both sides of his head, thank you very much) was 102.
I gave him tylenol and put him to bed - he seemed okay, but would be up several more times needing tylenol for his 102+ fever and vomiting in his bed. It was a long night.
The next day, I left him with Tom and went to work. Tom let him sleep in, and when he woke up, he seemed fine. Not feverish and not vomiting. We decided to give him some gut rest, so put him on pedialyte feeds for the day. Tom dropped him off at daycare (in retrospect, probably an error in judgment), but daycare called in the early afternoon to report that he had a 102+ fever and was "shaking uncontrollably." Tom picked him up right away.
At that point, I was thinking that this seemed very similar to Aidan's flu symptoms, and I wanted him checked for flu quickly - if it was the flu, we could still get him tamiflu and hopefully avoid the weeks of misery and weight loss that accompanied the illness last month.
Aidan's pediatrician was booked solid until the next day, so I decided to take him to Urgent Care - thinking that surely they'd be able to administer a flu swab. When I got home from work, Aidan was doing pretty well - likely thanks to the tylenol Tom had given him that afternoon. I held off on taking him to Urgent Care- just put him to bed and hoped for the best.
Around 9:30, Aidan woke up feverish (102.4) and vomiting. We immediately sprang into action - packing him into the car and heading for CHOP's new Urgent Care facility in King of Prussia. We arrived around 10:30 (whew! they close at 11.) and Aidan was still vomiting in the waiting room while I was checking him in.
Urgent Care got some tylenol into him, drew some blood for labs, and started an IV, but because of his high heart rate and dehydration symptoms, they decided to transfer him (via ambulance, no less) to CHOP.
Aidan was none too pleased with this plan. He hated the restraints, he hated the "big truck" (he specifically asked for a "tiny truck"), and they didn't take him to "Aidan's House" as requested. Oh well. That's disappointment for you.
Watching them strap him onto the stretcher was actually kind of scary. I guess I didn't realize how sick he was. I was looking for a flu test and an Rx. But don't get me wrong - I'm thankful that they recognized he needed more support.
When we arrived at CHOP (around 1:30am), I learned that he had orders for a direct admit. I was confused and exhausted - and of course didn't have my perfectly planned and packed hospital bag or ANY of my work things.
The Emergency Department was full, so I was glad that Urgent Care had secured him a spot - because the GI floor was also full, and it would be four more hours before a bed opened up on 5 South.
Not much happened down in the ED - we really just hung out, kept him on IV fluids and nausea meds, and waited for his bed upstairs.
Finally, in the early morning hours, we made it up to 5 South - to the same room he stayed in last March, when all hell broke loose with his stomach and we had his GJ placed. Small world. Small GI floor.
Aidan had other plans.
Aidan usually has other plans.
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| That looks suspiciously like an ambulance... |
I gave him tylenol and put him to bed - he seemed okay, but would be up several more times needing tylenol for his 102+ fever and vomiting in his bed. It was a long night.
The next day, I left him with Tom and went to work. Tom let him sleep in, and when he woke up, he seemed fine. Not feverish and not vomiting. We decided to give him some gut rest, so put him on pedialyte feeds for the day. Tom dropped him off at daycare (in retrospect, probably an error in judgment), but daycare called in the early afternoon to report that he had a 102+ fever and was "shaking uncontrollably." Tom picked him up right away.
At that point, I was thinking that this seemed very similar to Aidan's flu symptoms, and I wanted him checked for flu quickly - if it was the flu, we could still get him tamiflu and hopefully avoid the weeks of misery and weight loss that accompanied the illness last month.
Aidan's pediatrician was booked solid until the next day, so I decided to take him to Urgent Care - thinking that surely they'd be able to administer a flu swab. When I got home from work, Aidan was doing pretty well - likely thanks to the tylenol Tom had given him that afternoon. I held off on taking him to Urgent Care- just put him to bed and hoped for the best.
Around 9:30, Aidan woke up feverish (102.4) and vomiting. We immediately sprang into action - packing him into the car and heading for CHOP's new Urgent Care facility in King of Prussia. We arrived around 10:30 (whew! they close at 11.) and Aidan was still vomiting in the waiting room while I was checking him in.
Urgent Care got some tylenol into him, drew some blood for labs, and started an IV, but because of his high heart rate and dehydration symptoms, they decided to transfer him (via ambulance, no less) to CHOP.
Aidan was none too pleased with this plan. He hated the restraints, he hated the "big truck" (he specifically asked for a "tiny truck"), and they didn't take him to "Aidan's House" as requested. Oh well. That's disappointment for you.
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| It's like a really big rear-facing carseat, because safety first! |
When we arrived at CHOP (around 1:30am), I learned that he had orders for a direct admit. I was confused and exhausted - and of course didn't have my perfectly planned and packed hospital bag or ANY of my work things.
The Emergency Department was full, so I was glad that Urgent Care had secured him a spot - because the GI floor was also full, and it would be four more hours before a bed opened up on 5 South.
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| Sleepy Bear |
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| Sweaty Bear |
Finally, in the early morning hours, we made it up to 5 South - to the same room he stayed in last March, when all hell broke loose with his stomach and we had his GJ placed. Small world. Small GI floor.
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