Monday 7 February 2011

It's my cough and I will hold it in if I want to!

On Friday night, barely ten minutes after Marion (Jack's carer) left, Jack took a 6 minute seizure and was sick and I thought he had aspirated a little bit as he was lying on his back and I couldn't move him.  He very quickly followed this one with a 4 minute seizure but thankfully wasn't sick.

I knew he wasn't feeling too good as he had a bit of a runny nose but it was just a cold at that point.  Marion did say he was threatening to fit a few times but nothing came of it, so he decided to save it for me! He likes to save the nasty stuff for his favorite people!



Saturday he was completely listless and sleepy.  Although I got him into his chair, he really didn't open his eyes much at all except to cough or sneeze.  I spent an hour using the mask I was given when he was in Yorkhill over a year ago.  This mask has been a god send cos it basically makes his airway smaller so that he has to work his lungs harder which ensures that he gets all the yucky stuff up.  He absolutely hates it so it's a major battle cos Jack is very very strong and at times I literally have to pin him down.  The mask also requires you to form a seal around his mouth and nose so that no air gets out and the wee monkey often tries to open his mouth wide to get it off.  If that doesn't work, then he will shake his head or throw his body weight away from me to get away from it.

It's an exhausting job and there is no easy way to do it but when he is like this, I do persist!

This is the mask.  The pegs are interchangeable and  have different air hole sizes.
His temperature started to soar at around 8pm Saturday night and so I stripped him down and cooled him off and smothered his chest in vapour rub.  He never moved. I kept a close eye on him and gave him more paracetamol and ibuprofen at around 1.45am then fell into my bed.

Sunday now and I have left him in his bed because he is too exhausted to get up.  His bed tilts and the head comes up so I have him in a semi upright position.  I spent another hour using the mask and we got loads of stuff up but he was totally exhausted by it all and was asleep with the mask on! which kind of defeats the purpose cos he doesn't breathe as deeply when he is asleep. Up til now the gunk has been clear but this afternoon, traces of yellow which shows infection, probably from the aspiration and the runny nose.

It doesn't sound like much to me or you, as we could shrug something like this off no problem but for a child like Jack, this can be life threatening as it can lead to pneumonia. It is a constant worry which is exhausting.  After pacing the floor a bit, thinking, will I, wont I, I decided to phone NHS 24.  I have open access at the children's ward at Dr Gray's and I can take Jack up whenever I have a worry but he wasn't fit for the journey and since I am coughing too, didn't think it was a good idea to take him up and spread the germs.

Previously when I have phoned the out of hours GP, the dose of antibiotics they gave wasn't strong enough so I ended up having to take him up to hospital a few days later for a different kind as the infection had taken a real hold then.  So I gave the children's ward a quick call to say that I would tell the GP that he gets a bigger dose and could they confirm it?  They said no problem but when the GP arrived and saw him, she could see that he was nearly adult size and adjusted the dose accordingly.  This meant she had to make a return trip to the hospital to get the bigger dose but nothing seemed to be too much trouble for her.  She was just lovely as was the lady who answered the phone at NHS 24 who it turns out has a child with Down's Syndrome and she understood my worry straight away.



I managed to get 2 doses of the antibiotic into him before 10pm and he fell asleep straight away.

This morning, Monday,  there was another battle with the mask and he coughed up lots of yucky gunk.  There was blood in it so I think he has burst a blood vessel with coughing, which is something that I do when I have a bad cough so I am not overly worried.

He is sleeping now and I am having a well earned cup of coffee.  Ohhhhhhhhhhh  blissssssssssssss!

Have a great day my little gigglers :)







11 comments:

  1. what a weekend you've had.
    It's either the weather or the moon that's doing this to us - we've both had rubbish weekends. But i'd much rather have your weekend than mine!!!!
    Like the new layout - think i may update mine!!!

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  2. OMG girl, that was some weekend. I hope the meds keep it smooth and calm as you go into the week so you can catch up. Feel extra hugs coming to you today.
    Odie

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  3. Oh lyndy - I had no idea. How are you? Have you at least gotten some sleep.

    I hope the antibiotics kick in and he has a restful sleep/week.

    Will be thinking of you. Hugs.

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  4. Poor guy! I hope he feels better! And I will keep both of you in my thoughts.

    BTW- I love the new look.

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  5. Oh dear, I'm so sorry you've had such a tiring weekend with poor Jack. Do hope that he feels better very soon and that the anti-biotics kick in. I can imagine how much you appreciated that cup of coffee. Take care.

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  6. Goodness, it sounds like we both had fantastic weekends. I hope your boy feels better soon and you get some restful sleep.

    {{hugs}}

    http://a-redhead-named-sam.blogspot.com

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  7. I hope you and Jack both get better. Coughs are nasty things to have.

    http://theadorkableditzmissteps.blogspot.com/

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  8. Julie - god only knows but things can only get better eh?
    Odie - hugs greatly appreciated
    Skippymom - I got some sleep last night and he is totally shattered tonight so hopefully tonight too
    JM - me too, thanks
    Thisisme - I needed the pick-me-up coffee
    ARNS - Sounds like it! Hugs to you too
    Ditz - Thanks :)

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  9. Seems like you both have caught what I had. I do hope you both get better soon :D

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  10. Jax - yeah I think so, not nice :(

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  11. I hope the antibiotics are working for your little fellow and that you are both getting some much needed rest.

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Laughter is the best medicine and it's free. Thanks for visiting my blog and I look forward to hearing from you.

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