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:
They were submitted by: Climaxed
Letter
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Honey
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What Happened?
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Pain
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Lost in Translation
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Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:
Baking In A Tornado
Spatulas on Parade
The Bergham’s Life Chronicles
The Momisodes
Southern Belle Charm
Confessions of a part-time working mom
Someone Else’s Genius
Stacy Sews and Schools
Sparkly Poetic Weirdo
Searching for Sanity
Climaxed
Eileen’s Perpetually Busy
Juicebox Confession
Battered Hope
