Christopher's Miracle Story: Is that an IV in MY arm?

Friday, August 16, 2013

Is that an IV in MY arm?

Meeting with the doctors was easy since Christopher was already in the hospital. I didn't waste any time setting up a meeting in order to share with them what I had learned at the conference in California. They were very open to the information that I gave them, and our surgeon agreed to call the doctor in Texas that had drawn the sketch out for me. It was decided that we would schedule Christopher to have the new feeding tubes installed after he recovered from his current bout with infection.

As they had done many times before, the antibiotics killed off the bacteria that had invaded Christopher's body. Then the predictable routine of ramping up his tube feedings began. After a few days of Pedialyte and titrating his drip rate, he was released from the hospital to go home.

My biggest boy.

Home didn't turn out to be home. Home was Ga Ga's house. Why? Mike was still sick with Pneumonia, so we couldn't go home. We couldn't risk Christopher coming down with Pneumonia on top of everything else, so we went home to Ga Ga's house. The good news was that I would get to be with all my boys again. I was glad to be back to the beautiful, busy, boy world again. I was surrounded on all sides with toddlers, my toddlers!

Mike and Michael

Michael was busy being Michael...asking lots of questions as toddlers often do. Questions like, why is the sky blue and why is the grass green? He was also very busy with his toys and wanting to help cook dinner. Ryan was very busy being Ryan...which meant he was glued to me like super glue. He was making up for lost time. I was trying very hard to accommodate him, but I was getting that awful feeling. You know the one, where you think you are coming down with something. Was I getting Pneumonia too? I shared my panic with Ga Ga. She gave me some cold medicine and told me to lay down for awhile while she and Michael finished cooking dinner.

Ryan, LeAnne, and Christopher

Christopher was already asleep in his bouncy chair, so Ryan and I laid down on the couch. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up in the hospital emergency room, and this time I was the one in the hospital bed. Apparently... continued trauma and incredible, ongoing, never ending, gut wrenching stress DO NOT MIX WELL with certain ingredients in some cold medications. Sudafed and stress are NOT friends. They do not play well together.

When my eyes opened I expected to find myself in my mother's living room. Instead, I was shocked to find myself looking up at the stark white walls of the emergency room. From my gurney I could hear the doctor giving instructions to my mom. He told her to never give a person under this much emotional stress any cold medicine with Sudafed in it.

I could hear them talking, but were they really talking about me? I guess the answer was, yes. I was the one on the gurney wearing nothing but one of those really super cool hospital gowns, so they must be talking about me. Where are the kids? How did I get here? What happened?

The doctor and my mom noticed that I was awake and fumbling around with the IV in my arm. Am I dreaming? Is that an IV in my arm? Before I could even get the questions out of my mouth, they started giving me the answers. Here's what happened...After I laid down on my mom's couch (with Sudafed on board), she finished making dinner. When she tried to wake me up to eat, she found that I was passed out cold. I was unconscious, and now she was the one with a sick child on her hands. I was rushed to the emergency room... end of story.

The Diagnosis: Stress mixed with Sudafed causes anxiety attack and emotional breakdown.

The Prescription: Reduce stress (That's a good one! I guess he was serious, but good luck with that!), Rest (I'll give that a try, but it's going to be a little tricky with 3 kids under the age of 5!), Relax (Ditto!), See a counselor (Okay, I love to talk.), and Prescription Anti-Depressants (Bring it on! I can use all the help I can get!)