Boy have we had a week and a few days! It began a week ago this past Thursday, when we had to take my oldest son to the ER at 5:30 in the morning. He was throwing up, having severe stomach pains and was just miserable in general. So off to the ER we went. We found out he needed fluids and possibly had the Intestinal Flu, could have just been his lactose intolerance acting up.
So they pumped him full of fluids and pain meds and sent us home. I spent a quiet weekend with my oldest and youngest (youngest had been running a fever off and on). Well by Monday, darling girl's fever was still really high and this had been going on a little over a week (off and on), so off to the doctor's we went. This time I expected to go in to the office, be given some antibiotics and sent home. Wrong!!!! Wrong!!!! Wrong!!!! Instead they tried drawing blood (couldn't because she was too dehydrated). Then they kept trying to get her to urinate (couldn't because she was dehydrated). We found ourselves being sent to the ER. She kept asking, "Can't we just go home and do this tomorrow?" Of course we couldn't. We get to the ER and whisked into a room (helps when doctor informs ER you are on your way)! We got a fantastic male nurse named Jimmy! He was incredible - great bedside manner, caring, compassionate and excellent at his job. We also had a good doctor. Jimmy was able to draw the blood and get the IV started using the same stick site. Of course Baby girl hated this part.
Next thing we know, we are told the doctor (the one we saw at the doctor's office - not the ER doctor) wanted to admit us. We were whisked away to a room. This was our first hospital stay ever with one of our children (other than when they were born). Now from my birth experiences, my husband's stay in the hospital for pancreatitis, and various visits to hospitals for other family members and friends who were hospitalized, I was under the impression that doctors make normal rounds for the patients admitted to the hospital Boy was I wrong in this case!!!! Monday night we did not see our doctor at all. But we did receive a visit from one of the majors from our Salvation Army Corps.
Tuesday we did not see our doctor at all until after 9 pm. We did however receive visits from the housekeeping supervisor, a nursing manager (who actually was one of our nurses for the day), and one of the members of our Salvation Army Corps. We received word through a case manager with the bedside manner of an elephant in a stampede that we were not going home. (Mind you we were told in ER that the doctor wanted to do 24 hours of IV antibiotics for her infection). So that made two nights I spent in the hospital with our daughter. Tuesday afternoon, Dennis went to the house though and picked up the three boys and my mother and brought them back for a visit. This sort of perked Rebecca up a little.
So Wednesday came and we thought we were going home - wrong!!!! We were not allowed to leave. So we settled in for another night, fortunately Dennis was able to stay the night since he began leave. We received a visit from the housekeeping supervisor, a nursing supervisor plus one of the majors from our Salvation Army corps. The best part about Wednesday was getting to go home and take a shower while Dennis stayed with Rebecca.
Thursday we expected to see the Doctor at 10 am, noon came and we still had not seen the doctor. However, we did receive a visit from the Chief Financial Officer of the hospital. She was a loverly lady. Around noon, our nurse came in and said she had received our discharge instructions over the phone. She said the doctor wanted our daughter to receive one more dose of IV antibiotics and then she would be in to unhook her IV and give us our discharge paperwork. We finally got to leave. I know our daughter was thrilled to be going home.
The four children were thrilled to see each other and be back under the same roof. Dad and I went and crashed on our bed for a while. Rebecca crashed on the sofa a while. Everyone got a great night's rest in our own beds.
Unfortunately, Jacob had a bad night. So I am not sure whether we may end up having to take him back to the doctor's on Monday or not. Another long week may begin then.
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