Kit's ER Run

Today was one of those days. Kit is a resilient kind of kid. He's high-energy and a tough cookie. So, when he came into our bedroom at 2:15 crying and complaining that his back hurt, it worried me. Of course, he had been telling me that his back hurt since Friday. He said he bumped it on the trash can (which is round, read: no sharp corners to jab you in the back), but I was in the room when he said he did it, and I didn't see or hear anything. He had a fever on Friday which caused us to take him out of preschool early. I wasn't worried since Jed had had a 24-hour fever the previous Wednesday.

So, at 2:15 this morning we tried to console him while he screamed that his back hurt. I gave him some Tylenol and offered to lay down with him in his bed. No. In our bed? No. His suggestion: the futon. Can we open it? No. Okay. So, he and I squeezed together on the futon at the end of our bed. Did I sleep? No.

The poor little thing whimpered and huffed for 45 minutes before dozing off enough that I could fall out of the futon in order to get into my own bed. About 30 minutes after I left him on the futon, he was in our bed - all over the place. His breathing was labored and a few times he cried in his sleep. Finally, he was sleeping well. And it was time to get up. So, I got up and let him sleep for as long as I could. We promised in the night that we would take him to see the doctor today to fix his back.

Somewhere around 7 am, it occurred to me - like a brick wall caving in on me - that his fever and back pain could be related and INTERNAL! Duh!! I told Roger that there was no way I was waiting until 8 am to call to make a doctor's appointment. I called their emergency number, and the doctor told me to take him to the ER because that's where they would send him anyway - they didn't have the equipment to test him the way he needed to be tested.

Great. Fortunately, Roger was here, and we were able to divide and conquer. I ran out of here with Kit - taking the one car we have that has the children's hospital address programmed in it because I certainly had NO idea where I was going! And, honestly, it was like my mind had shut down. My only concern was Kit. Thank goodness for the GPS!! And, thank goodness that Roger was here to take Jed to school.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was grateful that there was no one else there. We were the only ones - and Kit was still screaming. I carried him in and every bump was excruciatingly painful to him. His fever had gone up - it was now 102F. They tended to him immediately. And, within minutes of the doctor seeing him, she said to me that he had an infection. She listened to his chest and told me next that it was pneumonia.

That blew me away. I had a list of things in my mind that could be wrong: appendicitis, kidney infection, kidney stones -- most definitely NOT pneumonia. She said his left lung - the side of his back that was hurting him -- was the side that was filling up.

They got him hooked up on an IV drip to rehydrate him, gave him some Motrin. His fever started coming down. While they were doing the IV, the nurse came in with 4 toys to offer him (you have to love a children's hospital!). He felt so bad, he couldn't have cared less about the toys. I chose a stuffed, red dinosaur for him. He agreed that we should name him Dino. He was brave for the IV (me - not so much), and he was a good little patient, cooperating fully with all of the medical staff that came to check him out. This was yet another sign that he was really sick - he's NEVER compliant with medical staff. This is the same kid who clamps down on the wooden tongue depressors, chewing them off in splinters until his lip bleeds. My baby was sick!

They did x-rays of his chest. Roger showed up after dropping Jed off. He went and got me some coffee and food since I ran out of the house without eating anything this morning. They put Kit on an antibiotic drip. Soon, Kit was feeling better, and you could tell. By 10:00 he said he was hungry. Another good sign. By 11:00 he had eaten all of his bacon and most of his doughnut. Now, he wanted to go home. Me too.

Finally, the doctor came back and gave us the thumbs up to leave. He was going to be okay. He wasn't contagious. He could go back to school tomorrow. He should be active in order to get the stuff in his lungs moving and out. He goes back to the doctor tomorrow morning before he returns to school.

Thank goodness things turned out so well. Thank goodness Roger was here. This really showed Roger and I that we need to find someone close here to call in the event that something like this happens again and Roger is away and I need help. I'm just glad that I was able to bring my baby home today rather than having to stay with him at the hospital overnight.