April 10, 2015

The Scariest Time of My Life - Use Your Words - April 2015


If you've been following my blog (or any of the others in this challenge) then you know how this works. Each month we are given a set of words from another blogger that we are to use in a post. We never know who will have our words until we read the posts on Friday. 
Usually I have a intro up here that explains the Use Your Words posts, links to all the other bloggers and a list of my words. Then I use the words (all the words) in my post. 
I am doing this one a bit differently. I will use all the words that I was given and I will link to all the other bloggers but first I want to tell you what happened to my youngest son, Colin, in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 31st, his 8th birthday. 
After that I will use my words and share the links. 


I woke up that morning around 3 am. Colin had fallen asleep on the couch. When I walked into the living room, I could see that he was struggling to breathe. I woke him up and attempted to check him out to figure out what was going on. 
He had been having allergy issues since Saturday (the day of his birthday party) but nothing too serious. Now he couldn't breathe and was running a fever. 
That was the single most frightening thing I have ever seen in my life.
A short time later we were in the ER.  X-rays and blood work, IVs and breathing treatments. The next thing I know, he was being admitting to the pediatric floor. They say it's possibly pneumonia but they aren't sure. Hours later they determine that is in fact NOT pneumonia. It was the sudden onset of an extreme asthmatic episode due to allergies and/or a virus. 
He was given steroids, fluids, breathing treatments, oxygen, and Singulair. He seemed to start to do better.
Until the wee hours of Wednesday morning. 
His blood oxygen level started to drop drastically. He was struggling to breathe even harder. 
He was rushed to PICU. He was put on continuous breathing treatments. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. 
He was hooked up to all sorts of monitors. 
He was given magnesium to help his lungs on top of all the other stuff. 

Horrifying
Terrifying
Scary

No, none of those words are bad enough. 

I don't have the words to tell you exactly how terrifying all of this was. The words just don't exist. 
If I could have taken it all on myself, I would have in less than a heart beat. If I could have cut off my arm to have it all stop, again, in less than a heart beat. 

He spent 4 days in PICU and 2 days in a regular room, at total of 6 days in the hospital. 
There were days that he wasn't allowed to eat. Then he had to go on a liquid diet. When he was finally allowed to eat, he definitely made up for it. 

He went in on his 8th birthday and was released on Easter.

It has been a very long, slow road, but he is getting SO MUCH better. 

He is now on breathing treatments every 6 hours. I am so thankful. I keep finding myself crying big, grateful tears. 

We have no idea how he will be in the future. We will just have to watch him and see. Will he have more attacks? Will he grow out of it? Will he be able to run and play like he did before? We have no idea. We aren't even sure of what really set it all off but we believe it was a mix of allergies and a virus. 

I am so very proud of him. He never once complained. He never once whined. He was so very brave, so very strong, so very sweet. What a precious boy he is. I am so proud to be his mother, so honored. 

I am also proud of my other 4 children. They were all amazing through the whole thing. Deanna stayed at the hospital with me every night so I wouldn't be alone. Jacob and Joshua took turns visiting with and entertaining Colin. They would stay for hours. Sweet Cailey was understanding about why I couldn't be home with her. We managed to sneak her in for a few minutes to ease her mind. She had been beside herself with worry. 

I have amazing children that love each other very much. I am so thankful, so proud of all of them. 

I want to thank all the nurses that took such great care of Colin. They really went above and beyond. 
One of the nurses even ordered him an extra grilled cheese sandwich. That act alone placed her in Colin's good graces forever!
There was an extra Easter basket and an Easter egg hunt. Colin found the golden egg and won a stuffed bunny. He was so proud. 


Now, I am ready to use my words. Now, I can start to heal my frightened heart, even if only by a tiny bit. How do I do that? I hug my kids tighter and longer. Try not to take a single second for granted. I suck it up and try to find a reason to laugh. I have a lot of reasons to smile already, 5 to be exact. 

I hope you all forgive me for the way I am using my words. I just couldn't do anything else without telling this first. 




Your words are:

letter ~ bucket ~ honey ~ what happened? ~ pain ~ lost in translation

They were submitted by: Climaxed 



Letter

funny letter r pirate
click the pic for photo credit




Bucket

Mah Bucket Funny Picture
click the pic for photo credit



Honey

cute, funny, home, honey, lol
click the pic for photo credit



What Happened?

What Happened
click the pic for photo credit



Pain


Is pain funny to you?
click the pic for photo credit



Lost in Translation

19 comments:

  1. Stacy, I am so glad I knew what has been going on before I started reading this post. At least I knew he was home and getting better!
    I am so with you on "I'd give anything to spare him going through this" - but we can't.

    These past few weeks we've had sad news in our environment, too, and we'll attend a funeral tomorrow. I'm looking for answers as to "why", but I'm not sure if there are any.

    So, yes, let's hug our loved ones and be grateful for every day ♥

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    1. HUGS, Tamara!!! I am so sorry!!! I'll be thinking about you!!!!

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  2. Even knowing some of this story the first part of your post had me in tears. I know the depth of that love and I know the fear you felt. I'm so sorry you all suffered through this experience and so relieved that it turned out the way it has/
    The second part of your post had me laughing so hard my son came to see what I was doing sitting alone on the couch laughing like a mad woman!

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  3. What a horrifyingly scary experience. Like Karen, even knowing what went on before you posted this, I was near tears when I was done reading. HUGS, LOVE, and KISSES to all of you!

    Well done on the words, lol!!!

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  4. Great job on the words.
    As a parent, there is nothing more terrifying than a child that is sick or in danger and there is nothing you can do but hang on and will them to be better.
    So glad the little guy is mending

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  5. I think it's safe to say we are ALL relieved Colin is doing better and is back home where he belongs - surrounded by family and friends and comfortable things.

    Your pictures are HILARIOUS! This bucket... I'm still laughing. No really. Stop it!!

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  6. Stacy-first of all love the way you tackled the prompt with the cute memes ❤

    So glad Colin is sprung, I can't imagine how terrifying and unsettling it was for you and your family during that experience! Hug all those loves every moment you can and please take these hugs from me! 💕

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  7. I can't imagine going through this myself with my own son. I hope things continue to get better!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!!!
      It has been slow road but he's getting better every day.

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  8. There is nothing worse than watching one of your babies go through something like this. My little girl got meningitis at 2 weeks old, then we had 3 weeks of tests, needles, more tests, more needles, it was horrible. I hope things look up for him now, but I know that with a mum as wonderful as you, he's in good hands until he's healed.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, my goodness!! How absolutely awful!!! So glad you made it through!!!
      Thank you so much!

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  9. You are absolutely right -- there are NO WORDS to describe what you went through, what emotions you were experiencing. I am so thankful that you are now on the 'other' side of that trauma and can breathe once again. Thank you for sharing this story as it is certainly not easy to share these moments of terror. Then you made us all LAUGH -- great job.

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  10. Stacy, My heart and thoughts are with you. May God comfort you and be with Colin. Hugs, Judy

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