Sunday, November 8, 2009

Kaden's Vacation Stay at Primary Children's Hospital



The night of Halloween, Kaden went trick or treating for about 1/2 hour and came home telling us he was done and didn't want to go anymore.   What??? Kaden not wanting free candy?  Something must be wrong.
Well.. that night, he woke up a few times coughing.  Sunday was no better. He had a fever and slept most the day.  Monday... still no better.  But now.. his breathing was very labored.  I could see his little tummy going in and out with every breath. He kept crying and telling me he couldn't breath.  I got on the phone.. made an appointment with the pediatrician.  His little face was turning a greyish color and his eyelids were purple.  I had seen this before when Bright was just 5 weeks old.. I had a feeling we would be heading up to Primary's.
We headed up to the doctor and sure enough.. they checked his oxygen levels and that was that. No more small talk, just the words I remember hearing a year and a half ago with Bright.  "His oxygen levels are too low to go home.  He needs to get up to Primary's NOW!"  They saved us the cost of an ambulance and gave us an oxygen tank a mask and sent us on our way.
Luckily Brian was able to meet me there so we could both be up with him.. my sweet mom came up in a split second and grabbed my kids from me and took care of them the whole time we were gone.  (I am so grateful for family)
Long story short... Primary Children's hospital from Monday morning until late Wednesday night.  Lots of oxygen, breathing treatments, an IV (and a totally brave little boy with it to I might add), and many, many doctors listening to his chest.  For most of the time we were there... we thought it was pnemonia.. but on our last day there.. the test results came back that it was the Swine Flu.  Ya... the same flu that has the whole population extra paranoid because the media has scared everyone that it's pretty much the plague that is going to destroy the world.  OK... a little dramatic.. but it's about that crazy.
So Kaden was one of the unlucky ones that the flue effected him bad enough to be hospitalized... but also pretty lucky that it was only for a few days.  His most difficult challenge was that he couldn't breath on his own very well.  He had to work pretty hard for it even with oxygen the first couple days.. but then he made a turn for the better and he started healing really fast.
It's never fun to have a kid in the hospital.. but if you had to be anywhere... primary's is the place to be.
I LOVE THAT HOSPITAL!  The nurses, doctors, volunteers, etc. etc. are incredible.  They are so compassionate to the parents, so kind and sweet to the patients, and there is always something fun for the kids to do  Kaden didn't want to leave.  Why would he?  He played video games all day long.  They brought in craft projects, he had multitudes of movies he could watch, he could order anything he wanted to eat... whenever he wanted  (pancakes and nachos for dinner... yum), he got his very own blanket to take home... jokes with his meals, a book to choose to keep, cute nurses that even gave him a thank you note for being a brave patient... It was incredible.  I was so grateful that he was there and getting taken care of... and at the same time... so grateful for the health that he had.. and that it was just the flu... so many of these kids in this hospital are there day in and day out.  We are very blessed.  I am grateful that Kaden is healthy and now home.  Avery was so excited to see his big brother. She couldn't stay away from him.  It's great to have kids that love eachother so much. I hope it stays that way!




Couldn't have done this without daddy.  He's my best friend and best video game partner.




Happy to talk to Avery on the phone.  I miss her.



Making a special purse for Avery.  It melted the nurses heart when he said he wanted to make a purse for his sister.   What a cutie.


Our little guys that came with jokes at breakfast time. We would put them in different parts of the room from time to time to change things up a bit. It was fun to see where they would be next.


Check out my Pichachu Cheeks!!


Mom went home to get my pillow, blanket and especially Grottle to make my stay a little more comfortable.  Grottle has been to Disneyland, Lake Powell, Camping, Friends houses and now the hospital with me.  I love you Grottle.



The nurses must have known I'm really good at baseball, because they had a special baseball blanket on my bed waiting for me when I got to my room.

3 comments:

Joe and Marci said...

Oh man, I'm glad he's feeling better! He looks like he was a pretty good sport about the whole thing, though. I totally agree with you about Primary's...they do such a great job there. We are lucky to live so close to it.

Shumway Adventures said...

Wow it looks like a party place!! Glad he is doing better too!

Jana Sohm said...

I am impressed w/ how quick you blogged after we talked about it today! Kaden is so cute! I hate seeing kids when they are sick. Riley was jealous of him getting to play video games all day.