Banana Boy in the Hospital

Remember our pneumonia? Well, everyone has popped back quickly after beginning the Zithromax (except me--I got crushing headaches from it so after 3 days they switched me to something else. )

And except for BB. He has remained the same all week since getting the Z-Pack on Monday. The Dr. (love her!) called to check on him Mon. night and Tues. evening. Then she left for India for a month.

She had scheduled a follow-up for us for Fri. with the other pediatrician (who IS Indian!)so I was sort of holding out for that. Wed. BB was whiny but he didn't seem to have a fever and he said nothing hurt anywhere. I just assumed he was tired of being sick and tired of coughing and just generally feeling weak. Thurs. he seemed a teeny bit better. He got up off the couch twice on his own, he was sitting up, he ate a little. But in hindsight, really not where he should have been after 4 days on the antibiotic.

Ah, hindsight. They should make it available ahead of time.

So fast forward to Fri. morning. He woke up crying. Cried everytime I tried to move him. He did eat a bowl of cereal and drank some water, but his neck looked so thin! At 11:15 we left for our 12:00 appt. and he didn't even want to walk. In fact, he cried about having to leave the house for the appt.

At the Dr 's office I was surprised to find out he still was running a fever (do you see me not winning Mother of the Year here??). She listened to his chest and ordered another chest X-ray for comparison to Monday. Two arm sticks, one blown vein and a successful blood draw later, we were back in her office and she was talking admission. The X-ray looked somewhat worse and the CBC showed a mild white count elevation.

We hung out in the exam room for two hours while she communicated with the hospital and they got a room ready for a direct admit for us. That sounds awful, but he just laid on the exam table and rested. The alternative was to wait in the ER. No thanks!

Mr. GT had come by to switch his car for my van, I talked to Daisy and Pepper at home and explained to Mr. GT about getting Rosebud and Sunshine off the bus.

At 3 we left for the hospital and checking in couldn't have been smoother. I put him in a wheelchair at the parking ramp (he's too heavy to carry all the way up, even with the elevator, even having lost 2 lbs.)

So by 3:40 we were in our room answering 5 million personal questions from the nurse to help them personalize our stay. The pharmacist came in to hear about every medication he's ever had, the nurse and the student nurse AND the nursing assistant were here. We had the plebotomist for another CBC (didn't we just have one 3 hours ago?) The Dr., The resident. The IV inserter person (she didn't give her title). It sounds annoying but, really, they were all super!

The blood draw was not a popular activity, the IV even less so. Still he was very brave. The saline solution went charging through his veins and the antibiotics were begun. By this time Mr. GT was here with the bag we'd ordered from home. BB complained that his leg itched so we suggested he scratch. 5 more minutes passed and I glanced at his IV arm. Bumpy and red. I buzzed the nurse and within minutes she was here and we discovered the itch on his leg was hives too! She was going to let the Dr know, but I convinced her to turn the antibiotic off first.

Resident came in and everyone decided BB was reacting to the antibiotic. Note to future self: BB is allergic to Cephalosporin.

He got a shot of Benadryl and within minutes was asleep. Within an hour the hives were gone. The Dr.s will reevaluate tomorrow for a new antibiotic. He got most of this one before they shut it off.

Overall, everyone here has been terrific and VERY nice. This is a lovely hospital and he's getting great care. They're suggesting we'll go home Monday.