Zachary's Hospital Visit (part 1)

This past weekend did not go exactly like we had planned. On Saturday morning around 5:00 am Zach came into our room complaining about a sore throat. First thought that came to me was he had strep again and we would be making a doctor's appointment first thing when we got up, even though he did not have a fever. When he woke up around 8:00 am he still had a sore throat and now was running a fever. I was convinced it was strep and made an appointment for around 10:00.

While waiting for our appointment we noticed that his breathing was labored and he sounded crackly on one side. He also appeared very tired. We had him do his Xopenex inhaler and then I loaded him up to head to the doctor. Never once thinking he was having an asthma attack or it being anything more than strep and exhaustion from the night before. On the way to the doctor he threw up, which is another sign (for him in the past) that it was strep.

We got to the doctor and got into a room. The nurse talked to us a bit and then did a rapid strep test. While we were waiting to see the doctor I noticed his work of breathing was still very labored. So I went to find the nurse and ask for a Pulse Ox. Once she brought it in and put it on his finger his 02 saturation was reading 83%. She immediately went and got the doctor to come in and check him over. They immediately got him started on oxygen and a nebulizer treatment. She also went to find another Pulse Ox to make sure that the reading was correct.

After one breathing treatment his O2 came up to about 95% and was holding. His strep test came back negative, so our thoughts where pneumonia. Since we were getting ready to leave for vacation on Thursday, she decided to be very aggressive with his treatment and give him 2 shots of Rocephin and prescribe him some steroids and antibiotics. After the shots we had to wait 20 minutes to make sure he was not going to have an allergic reaction to the medication.

While waiting I decided to put the Pulse Ox back on him. His O2 Sats were back down to 83%. I went to get the nurse, and she went to get the doctor. By this time, we had a second doctor who had come in to listen to him. After listening, and him still being very diminished sounding on one side they decided that it was time to go to the hospital.

This is where the whirlwind beginnings. The doctors asked me what hospital we want to go to. I told them I had to call Chris and discuss it with him. Chris was at home with the other kiddos and his sister. She and her kids who were visiting. He had also planned to clean out the garage this weekend. He had it all pulled out in the driveway when I called. After telling him what they decided to do to help Zach, Chris suggested to go to North Central Baptist. We also were having to go by ambulance. Chris asked what ambulance was being called. I told him it would be NBFD EMS. Since Chris was good friends, and previously worked many years with several of the Paramedics working that day, he called them to see if they could be the ones to transport Zachary to San Antonio.
In a matter of minutes all these decisions were made and before we knew it we were in the back of an ambulance.

Zachary was very scared and unsure about it all. He did not want to have to go the hospital. But once Daddy showed up and reassured Zach that he was in good hands in the ambulance and he would meet us at the hospital, Zach settled down.