Viral pneumonia

On Wednesday night Luke came into our room in the middle of the night crying. He was burning up. I was so disappointed. I felt bad for him and me. Being sick is no fun and having sick kids is no fun. I medicated him and he slept with us for the rest of the night. Luke is by far my most demanding child and when he is sick he's WAY worse. I cared for and spoiled him all day while slightly neglecting the other munchkins. Luke nestled himself into the corner spot on the couch and watched movies and slept while requesting I remain at his side at all times.

He seemed to be getting progressively worse and I was starting to worry about him. He was breathing very fast and shallow breaths. My instincts told me he needed to go to the ER but I wanted Steve to get home to see what he thought. Was I being an overprotective mother or were my concerns legit. He validated my concerns and we decided Luke did need to go to the ER. I took him to the ER it was a terrible experience. Luke was not doing well he had a fever of 104, heart rate of 180, and was breathing about 45 breaths per minute. The nurses sucked they had an aggressive inpatient approach with Luke, their was nothing gentle about them. Luke only weighs 23 pounds be he is STRONG and can put up a good fight. He didn't let anyone do anything to him without requiring multiple people to hold him down. I was almost always included in holding him down during these painful and traumatic experiences. I felt like such a traitor. It was seriously heartbreaking. I could barely stand to do it. After getting an IV, getting blood for labs, chest x-rays, nasal washings, breathing treatments, and multiple rectal temps the doctor concluded Luke needed to be admitted. They had no pediatric unit at that hospital so we would have to be transferred via ambulance to another hospital. Luke kept crying and saying I want to go home, go NOW and he of coarse was constantly crying for his beloved dad. I'll admit I even cried a few times. Seeing your child suffer is such a hard thing to watch. We spent the night at the St. Rose Sienna pediatric unit. Again unimpressed with the care Luke received. The nurse seemed annoyed that Luke was scared. Why do people choose to work with kids if they're not friendly and have little tolerance for kids? Blows my mind. After several more pokes and prods and a sleepless night Luke was diagnosed with viral pneumonia. We were discharged that day and so happy to go home. Luke and the other kids were so happy to see each other and they have all been enjoying lots of popsicles and an endless stream of movies. We LOVE you so much Luke and are SO glad you are home and feeling better.