ER Visit 4/12/25

Hello Family and Friends, 

Little Lucas could use your prayers.

He came down with a cold and was breathing fast on Saturday and I brought him into Children's hospital to get checked out. At that point, symptoms had just started. Some diarrhea, fever, congestion, and a wet cough. We took him into the ER, they diagnosed him with Rhinovirus (cold) and we ended up staying overnight. He didn't get worse and the doctor and I agreed that as long as he didn't look worse he could recover at home. At this point most of his fast and hard breathing seemed to be while he was asleep. He was in good spirits and breathing looked more normal while he was awake.

We got through the day at home Sunday. Happy Palm Sunday everyone!

Lucas started to breath heavier while he was awake yesterday (Monday) towards the evening and I suspected it would get worse overnight while he was sleeping so I brought him back into the ER last night.

At 3pm we got admitted and got a room. His breathing was pretty hard with him sucking in his stomach and his shoulders moving quite a bit when he breathed. After some albuterol and some oxygen, they put him on high-flow at 6:30am this morning because he's still breathing hard. I'm writing this at 7:20am and as I look over at him, he's still breathing hard. If he needs more high-flow then he'll be moved to the ICU. This is day 4 of the cold so the worst of it should be today and tomorrow-ish.

We could use some prayers and if anyone would like to come to the hospital and wear a mask and hold him so I can take a nap, please feel free to text me. And of course, prayers are very much appreciated! Thank you!

UPDATE: 4/15 @ 9:30pm - things are really looking up this evening. I'm hoping that Lucas might be over the worst of it. They took him off high-flow and took his IV out so he can now eat and he was so happy to have a bottle of milk! Here's hoping overnight goes well and we have some positive things to see tomorrow!

UPDATE: 4/16 @ 9:30pm - Lucas has looked pretty good all day. However, he has continued to need supplemental oxygen whenever he falls asleep. He's going to be evaluated tomorrow by pulmonology and I will be advocating that we can go home if we have oxygen and I become #nursemommy again and give him the oxygen as he needs it when he sleeps until he recovers fully from this cold. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers!

UPDATE: 4/18 @ 4pm - I got some relief yesterday (thank you Caleb!) so I could go home, shower and spend some time with Fernando and the girls so I didn't update yesterday, but yesterday was much like the day before gunkie cough in the morning. However Lucas DID see some gals from pulmonology yesterday to discuss his need for oxygen when he sleeps. They said that if that's happening, it's not safe to go home without oxygen. They suggested a medication and some steroids that they can give him, based on his symptoms to give him a boost to help him recover. So they started those yesterday.

For some reason Lucas was really fussy for Caleb and took some naps but was really fighting them. He also didn't drink any of his bottle the entire time I was gone and that's weird for 4 hours to not drink anything. I noticed the same thing that Caleb did that night. He was fairly fussy throughout the night and wasn't drinking any of his bottle.

Coming to this morning, we have a few more things to deal with. Lucas was coughing a fair amount through the night. He had a fever at 5:30am which he hasn't had a fever in the last couple days. He also wasn't eating well. I thought his bottle seemed more thick than it usually is so I made him a fresh bottle and it seemed to help, but Fernando came by with the girls and he watched Lucas and tried to feed him and he still didn't want to drink. Luckily Fernando tried to give him some milk without thickener and he gobbled it down. So now I'm baffled, why would his bottle be harder to drink all the sudden?? I gave him some milk without thickener and he gobbled down another 6oz so he was definitely hungry. He's had a really hard time taking a nap today.

Apparently the steroid they started giving him can cause irritability which could explain him not taking a nap well. I'm going to ask them if he can be taken off.

Anyway, I'm afraid today is worse than yesterday but in weird ways. And we'll definitely be here til Monday. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter, please keep us in your prayers, this is not easy. hugs.

UPDATE: 4/19 @ 1pm - What a day yesterday! Lucas got worse and since the only thing different was the steroids they started him on and albuterol, I told them not to give him anymore. He was crying in the evening and inconsolable. I had to trust my instincts and i insisted he not get anymore steroid until we can talk to the pulmonologist. At least he slept pretty well through the night.

This morning Lucas is doing much better. No feeding issues, no fevers, he's happy and energetic and back to his "normal" self! I blame the steroid (prednisolone). I'm not sure what had him have trouble eating, but that is totally gone (apparently the steroid shouldn't cause that and everyone is baffled). So we are back on track for recovery. He is in good spirits this afternoon, sitting up and playing with his toys and babbling to himself. Even his work of breathing looks good. He's not working hard with his shoulders, chest and stomach bobbing up and down to try to breath. They are still giving him oxygen when he needs it when he sleeps, but he's in a much better place to recover now. I'm so relieved. love to everyone and thank you to those who are reaching out to see if we need anything! We'll definitely need some help making our life work as we go into next week and Fernando has to watch the girls (off of school for the week) and also try to get work done during the day.

UPDATE: 4/20 @ Noon - Lucas is much the same today. He has some more trouble eating in the evening yesterday, but as he's been coughing up a lot of flem, we've been better about suctioning it out of his throat (yikes! and yes, it's not comfortable). Very necessary. So now he has a lot of mucus in his throat and upper airways and sometimes it seems to make it hard for him to eat so we are watching for that. He also reliably needs oxygen when he sleeps. I am officially adjusting my expectations to needing to be here until Wednesday. I think that if we can get enough of this gunk out and the mucus dies down, then perhaps we can go home with some oxygen for him and finally be able to go home!

Thank you to Stacie, Caleb, Kimberly, & Briana. It has worked the best for someone to come to the hospital in the evening from 6-10pm so I can go home for about 2.5 hours or for people this week to watch the girls during the day so that Fernando can work. Thank you to Erin, Louise, and Sarah for having playdates with the girls this upcoming week while they are off so that Fernando can get some work done! We love you all and thank you so much for supporting us so we can make this work! God's love is so evident with how willing our friends are to check in and be here for us.

Happy Easter!