a day at the hospital

Let me tell you my day, because trust me it's interesting!!! Jude is STILL not feeling well, and just not acting normal. Something told me that Jude needed to go in, and get fully checked out. So I drove him to Dallas to have them look at him, and let me know what they think is wrong. Jude is still not eating, and when we give him a bottle he screams at the top of his lungs. He is whimpering in pain, screaming out for no reason, and just not himself. Once we got there we were assessed in triage, and they immediately took him to the back. They took Jude into a room and hooked him up to blood/oxygen, and cardiac monitors. The nurse left the room for a minute, and suddenly the room flooded with people. I noticed shirts that said "paramedic", and someone that had to be a respiratory therapist. They tossed around medical terms, and they all listened to Jude's right side repeating "diminished breath sounds on the right side". I also noticed Jude's heart rate was very high and up to 170 at one point. Everyone left, but our nurse and she explained the doctor would be in soon. She then left the room, and I calmed my screaming child.

Soon the attending, and nurse came back in explaining the doctor would like a urine sample, and a glucose level. I was a bit confused because it seemed the chest issue would be of greater importance, but I am not a doctor. The urine test was traumatic, and I do not want to go through that again. There was a changing of nurses, people coming in and out, and more listening of Jude's chest. Jude received an order for some motrin, and I explained he had never received motrin again, he liked it!!! After the motrin Jude's heart rate decreased a bit, and his blood oxygen level returned more normal. The doctor then came in to let us know what he thought. He told me that he isn't concerned about Jude's chest because everything clinically tells him there isn't any pneumonia. I explained what happened when we first got there, and how several people were saying they heard diminished breath sounds. He then went and called in two nurses to ask them who heard the diminished sounds. The nurse spoke up that she did, the attending did, and respiratory did. They then traded off listening, and debating over the sounds or lack of sounds. The doctor said he saw no cause for a chest X Ray, and to my great surprise the nurse said "I am sorry doctor but I disagree". He seemed rather perturbed, and when another nurse listened and agreed there was an issue. I then spoke up and I said "I would like a chest x ray, I don't want to leave with any question that there may be an issue". So the doctor reluctantly complied, and Jude got his X ray. On our way to the X Ray room one of the nurses apologized for the scene, commended me for saying something, and said that all the nurses thought Jude needed an X ray. So once we got in the room I was greeted by several friendly radiology techs, and one who mentioned Jude looked familiar. She then said "It's baby Jude! I follow your blog". That made me smile, and it turned out she was a friend of a friend.

Once back in the room the nurse came in to inform me something showed on the X Ray, and they were reviewing it. She then listened to his chest again, and took his blood pressure. Soon the attending came in.....not the doctor, and explained they found some opaque coloring on the X ray that indicated some hardening in the bronchial wall?!?! Medical terms annoy me. Anyway, my understand is that it could have been a viral infection. So I learned they were sending us home. I asked about fluids since Jude has only had 2 ounces in 24 hours, but they said he was borderlined dehydrated but not overly dehydrated. So do we wait until there is a serious issue?!?!? I was a little taken back, but didn't know what else to do. So then I heard our nurse quietly talking to the paramedic, and respiratory, and I heard "You document it and write it down I stand behind what we heard". So she comes in to discharged us, and was so nice. She then turned to me and said "I know I am younger, and not as experienced as the doctor, but I feel it's my responsibility to tell you I disagree with the doctor. I think it's possible Jude has pneumonia, or something else going on." In other words she couldn't keep him, but felt he needed to be admitted to be watched. So she taught me how to look for indications of pneumonia, and assured me she would follow up on his case. I knew she wasn't trying to alarm me, but educate me, and I respected her for that. She also assured me radiology would review the films, and if they were overly concerned they would call us back. They had two trauma's come in so radiology was behind. It made me feel some better the radiologist would review the films, but I agreed with her. Jude is not himself, and sometimes a mothers instinct outweighs clinical data, or a doctors best educated guess. She said she believes Jude is refusing his bottle due to a sore throat, and the lack of energy or air to suck it. So I am carefully watching him. I respect both the doctor, and the nurse. I can say that it's rare I find a nurse that is vocal, and really looking out for my son. It meant a lot to me that she risked getting in trouble to voice her opinion. The one good news we got was that Jude is not aspirating if this does turn into pneumonia they feel it's due to a common cold, or virus.

We are squirting liquids into his mouth to try to keep him hydrated. If he is still not eating by Monday, then back we go. I called to inform my family what happened, and my boss texted earlier to check on Jude. I appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts. I only hope we can get some rest tonight, because I know I will be listening for him breathing. He is currently in Em's arms whimpering, and we just want him to feel better.




** UPDATE ~ I put a call into Jude's neuro to explain the entire hospital visit today. He listened, and was so kind as usual. He said that it's very normal that if a child is dehydrated that pneumonia will not fully show on an X RAY. He said he wouldn't be surprised if Jude got an IV of fluids that the pneumonia would present clear and evident. He wants us to continue trying to get fluids into Jude tonight (so far he still won't take any), and if we are not successful we will check him into Medical City tomorrow. Jude will get a round of fluids and antibiotics. Also, I am sorry if my blog was full of errors earlier, I was writing in a hurry.