Opus 124 - Good News / Bad News

So I have good news and bad news. The good news: the replacement parts for Lissa and Joshua's cribs finally came and their room is back to normal! It seems so spacious in there now :)

The bad news: the kiddos are sick. Lissa has a nasty cold and Joshua has RSV. It took forever to get Joshua's diagnosis. We took both kids to the Instacare on Thursday evening and the doctor said it was a virus. He didn't even consider RSV (which is also a virus, but it has a name and treatments!), but he did tell us not to worry about his fever until it gets to 108 (WHAT?????!!!!! Are you CRAZY???). Friday evening Joshua stopped drinking. No amount of forcing a bottle or sippy into his mouth would get him to drink. By Saturday afternoon I was getting concerned that he'd get dehydrated, so I took him back to the Instacare. The nurse talked to me (without checking him in), said he was dehydrated, and sent us to the ER. The doctor at the ER said he wasn't dehydrated because he had tears, drool, and snot (why couldn't the Instacare nurse make that same assesment??), but he wanted Joshua to drink before he'd let him leave. So he tries to get me to give Joshua Oreos and Sprite. What is it with these doctors?? Oreos and Sprite? I don't know about you, but when I'm sick and haven't eaten the last thing I want is Oreos and Sprite. Fortunately, the nurse was much smarter than the doctor. We gave him cereal puffs and apple juice. After I was finally able to get Joshua to drink we left, holding a very expensive carton of apple juice. We could've done all of that at the Instacare; thank you very much Instacare nurse.

I took Joshua into our regular doctor's office on Monday as a follow up to the ER visit. We saw our doctor's PA, Lisa. It took Lisa less than five minutes to diagnose RSV. So, we saw two doctors (who were okay with 108 fevers and giving sick 12 month olds Oreos and Sprite), but it took a Physician's Assistant to get the correct diagnosis. Thank goodness for Lisa! She sent us to the hospital to have Joshua tested so we could know for sure.

Monday night Johsua was really bad. His breathing was so erratic that I ended up sleeping on couch cushions next to his crib. We got the call yesterday morning telling us that Joshua does have RSV so we took him in to have his nose suctioned. Although Joshua doesn't feel too good, he sure seems a lot better than he was before he was suctioned. The nice thing is that we can go to the hospital to have it done again any time day or night - as often as he needs it. So if Joshua gets bad again, we'll be headed back (but don't tell him, he hated it!).

Poor Lissa has not been receiving as much attention even though she's still dealing with a cold. But when you have one kid who smiles and plays most of the time and another who cries and just wants to sit on your lap, you tend to give the latter more attention. But Lissa does seem to be getting a little better as well and she sure has enjoyed some good attention from Grandma Smith while I take Joshua to the hospital. (Thanks goodness for Grandma!!)

Before I close this post I want to send my love and good wishes to my nephew who also has RSV and has been in the hospital (we think the kids got it at Lissa and Joshua's birthday party - so sad!). They're now waiting to hear if he has pneumonia. Poor kid! We love you Ben and hope you're feeling better soon!