RSV AND Pneumonia!

As usual, it is tough to tell if Ben is just being his normal stubborn self, or if he's actually sick.  This week-end was no different.  Ben kept us up both Friday and Saturday nights, waking up periodically coughing and screeming.  Both of his brothers had had a cold, so we thought it was his turn, and that he was over-reacting.  This appeared to be the case until Sunday, when he sounded waaaay more congested than his brothers had.  So, as with past colds, we started the albuterol and steroid treatments via nebulizer.  Also, as is our typical precaution when we start these treatments, we called the Dr. and scheduled an appointment for Monday morning.  After 3 treatments Sunday afternoon, Renee made the executive decision that if he looked / sounded this bad in the middle of the night, we would do another albuerol treatment.  That time came around 3:30am, and Dave brought him downstairs for the treatment.

Ben's appt. was at 8:00am, and he and Dave were the first ones in the place.  He looked great, and had a great demeanor, but he sounded like crap, and the nurse knew it.  So did the Dr.  3 albuterol treatments, 2 hours, and 1 oral steroid later, the Dr. had him admitted to the hospital.  Between treatments 2 and 3, it was obvious that he was retracting.  Dave called Renee and she met them in his hospital room as the on-call Dr. and nurse were doing the interview.  They took samples of his mucus to check for RSV and pneumonia.  Then Dave got his chance to experience the torture of assisting Ben with a chest x-ray.

Around 2:15 the lab was in for the RSV.  Positive.  Great.  Guess the synagis wasn't enough this time.  Less that half an hour later the lab came back for the pneumonia.  Positive.  What?!?  Double whammy?!?  Yup.  Next is an overnight stay and bloodwork to determine if it is bacterial or viral.

Dave called the Dr. to see if he should have Nate and Sam tested.  "Only if they have fevers, are coughing, and have runny noses."

Check, check, and check.  Their appointment is at 9:15 on Tuesday.

Did I mention they DIDN'T qualify for synagis this year?