1st Hospital Visit

Samuel had his first hospital visit this week. He woke up on Tuesday morning with a severe asthma attack that didn't respond to the breathing treatment that we gave him at home. We spent the morning in the doctor's office giving him 2 more breathing treatments. We were told we could try going home, but if he didn't improve then he would have to go to the hospital. Well, as we were leaving, he started wheezing really bad again. We were admitted around 10:45 am. He had to have a monitor attached to his big toe to keep track of his oxygen levels and heartbeat. He wanted no part of that. They had put a longer cord on it so he could move around, but it still didn't help. The rest of the day was spent receiving breathing treatments and several different rounds of medication (steroids and antibiotics). Throughout the day, his breathing would get a little better, but then he would get frustrated with the monitor or lack of mobility and throw a fit. That would cause his wheezing to come back and he'd get worse for a while. He spent the night there and was able to go home Wednesday morning, under the condition that if he needed any breathing treatments less than 3 hours apart, then we would have to come back. So far he's been doing well, and is back to his old self.

I can't even describe how upsetting the situation was for me. For him to be struggling to get his breath and then having to go to the hospital was very scary and nerve wracking. One of the worst times, was when I had to leave him for the night. I had to go pick up Darius from the babysitter's and head home. Darius is still getting up in the night to be fed, so I was unable to spend the night with Samuel in the hospital. Josh took over for me, but it was so hard to leave him. I felt like my heart was being ripped out when Samuel started crying hard as I left and I could hear him down the hall. The whole time I kept fearing the worst, meaning that his oxygen level would drop low enough for him to need oxygen by mask and him having to stay another day in the hospital. I was very surprised the next morning when I got to the hospital and I could hear him playing rather loudly before I even got to the room. He was literally bouncing off the walls when I got there. He was so hyped up on medication that he was just going crazy. It was a welcome sight considering how he had been the previous day.

There were a lot of people praying for us and we are very grateful for that especially since Samuel was able to go home after one day and hasn't had any trouble since. I am hoping that there won't be a "next time" and that we can get a better control over his asthma before it gets to that point.