Last week, I had to see our family doctor for a lung infection.
Of course, the majority of my appointment was spent discussing Izzy
(as is the case no matter which person the doc is seeing--me, my
mom, my dad, Izzy . . . ). Anywho, I asked the doc what she thought
about Izzy's cardiologist and pulmonologist/allergist/immunologist
deciding that Izzy's cough (that has persisted through illness and
health since July) must just be Izzy holding onto infections extra
long. Our primary doc had not been provided this information.
Needless to say, she was not pleased and thought it was a cop out
on the part of the specialists. It just doesn't add up that Izzy
would start coughing (only when laying down) in July. Maybe she
held on to infections extra long last year, but she's been on
Hizentra for over 10 months. She has been relatively infection free
since then. Why would this start now?
So, the primary care doc decided that she was going to have to get to the bottom of this if necessary. If Izzy continued to cough at night, she had to be seen Monday.
Dale took Izzy in on Monday and the doc noted early signs of a sinus infection. Izzy was started on antibiotics and oral steroids. The steroids were simply to open her nasal passages. Izzy was also started on allergy medicine just to see. (Izzy has gone through allergy testing previously and found nothing, but it was the glaring possibility that nobody has ever treated with regard to the coughing.)
Izzy seemed to be doing fairly well with that. Dale and I weren't convinced that the allergy medicine was working, but Izzy seemed to be getting better.
All of that changed this morning. Izzy started getting a temp at school, was complaining of pain. By the time she got home at noon, she didn't care about food and only wanted to sleep. (And, of course, she vomited.)
Izzy returned to the primary care doc this afternoon. Her lungs are all messed up, but luckily her oxygen saturation remained above 90. She still had a fever and was complaining of chest pain. Izzy did have chest x-rays, but we don't know the results yet. If past practice is any indication, Izzy's doc will be calling us soon with those results. Anyway, from physical examination, Izzy was given a shot of steroids for her lungs and a shot of antibiotics. And her oral doses of those were once again changed and increased.
We gave Izzy xoponex this evening and her evening dose of pulmicort right before bed as we do every night. Normally, that helps her relax enough to sleep. But tonight, as I carried Izzy to her room, I could feel each breath rattle in her lungs. Her heart is beating harder and faster as well. She is clearly getting worse than she was earlier today.
I'm afraid she'll end up in the hospital before the night is through. Night is always the hardest time. We have her propped up in bed to help her breathe while she sleeps, but she never stays that way no matter how many times I move her. Our hope for tonight is that when Izzy's nightly aspirin wears off, the fever does not return (and we're not woken due to her violently vomiting).
Please keep our girl in your thoughts,
Mel
PS
Two minutes after I posted, Izzy's doctor called. She has pneumonia in her left upper lung. If she gets worse, we must go to the hospital :(
PPS
Since we got these today and she is gorgeous, I had to share Izzy's preschool picture:
So, the primary care doc decided that she was going to have to get to the bottom of this if necessary. If Izzy continued to cough at night, she had to be seen Monday.
Dale took Izzy in on Monday and the doc noted early signs of a sinus infection. Izzy was started on antibiotics and oral steroids. The steroids were simply to open her nasal passages. Izzy was also started on allergy medicine just to see. (Izzy has gone through allergy testing previously and found nothing, but it was the glaring possibility that nobody has ever treated with regard to the coughing.)
Izzy seemed to be doing fairly well with that. Dale and I weren't convinced that the allergy medicine was working, but Izzy seemed to be getting better.
All of that changed this morning. Izzy started getting a temp at school, was complaining of pain. By the time she got home at noon, she didn't care about food and only wanted to sleep. (And, of course, she vomited.)
Izzy returned to the primary care doc this afternoon. Her lungs are all messed up, but luckily her oxygen saturation remained above 90. She still had a fever and was complaining of chest pain. Izzy did have chest x-rays, but we don't know the results yet. If past practice is any indication, Izzy's doc will be calling us soon with those results. Anyway, from physical examination, Izzy was given a shot of steroids for her lungs and a shot of antibiotics. And her oral doses of those were once again changed and increased.
We gave Izzy xoponex this evening and her evening dose of pulmicort right before bed as we do every night. Normally, that helps her relax enough to sleep. But tonight, as I carried Izzy to her room, I could feel each breath rattle in her lungs. Her heart is beating harder and faster as well. She is clearly getting worse than she was earlier today.
I'm afraid she'll end up in the hospital before the night is through. Night is always the hardest time. We have her propped up in bed to help her breathe while she sleeps, but she never stays that way no matter how many times I move her. Our hope for tonight is that when Izzy's nightly aspirin wears off, the fever does not return (and we're not woken due to her violently vomiting).
Please keep our girl in your thoughts,
Mel
PS
Two minutes after I posted, Izzy's doctor called. She has pneumonia in her left upper lung. If she gets worse, we must go to the hospital :(
PPS
Since we got these today and she is gorgeous, I had to share Izzy's preschool picture:
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