10 days ago we moved to Del Rio. It was a crazy day with moving, packing, cleaning and coordinating. Chase was feeling really sick and just wanted to lay on a blanket on the floor while we got ready. He had been coughing and feeling yucky for a couple of days and I thought that if he wasn't better by the next day (friday) I would have to find out how to take him to the Dr. in Del Rio. On the drive out of town we stopped at chick-fil-a, one of his favorites and he pepped up enough to eat and play on the play place. On the drive down he threw up and was coughing and crying. Needless to say it was stressful for me, all three kids on a 3 hour drive, throw up etc. We got to the new house and I put him to bed while we unloaded the rest of our stuff. We grabbed some dinner and Chase was still feeling lousy. I called the nurse hotline. She assured me he would be fine and told me to clear up his breathing with some steam.
By 9-10 pm he was really running a fever and I was starting to worry. I called a friend and found out that there is no urgent care in Del Rio, only the ER (I hate trips to the ER!! I have never spent less than 8 hrs ) We were so exhausted, we just wanted to go to sleep. I called my sister Tracy and talked things over. She thought that he might be fine waiting until morning unless I had that Mother instinct feeling to take him in. I told her we would probably wait. I walked back into Chases room, hear his breathing and his cries and felt the Mother instinct. Quinn jumped into action and picked up Chase who began to scream in pain that his stomach was killing him. They rushed off into the rainy night while i stayed home with the other 2 sleeping kids. I laid down to rest for a few minutes.
I shot awake at 2:45 in a panic. I called Quinn. They had been seen but nothing was happening. I could hear Chase panting in pain in the background and told Quinn he just had to do something. He got them to come and they said that he had bowel blockage, gave him an enima, he pooped a bunch and they released him. When they walked through the door I was way worried. He was still breathing funny, couldn't calm down and was in so much pain. I was up with him most of the night, we were all bleary with exhaustion.
We waited anxiously for the base clinic to open in the morning. Quinn took him in. When they saw Chase they knew something was very wrong. They got him on oxygen and started an IV. The chest xray showed that most of his left lung was whited out with pnumonia. The little hospital in Del Rio wouldn't admit him (the base personnel speculated that their pediatrician was on vacation) and he had to be put on an ambulance up to San Antonio.
I couldn't believe it!! We had just come from San Antonio less than 24 hours earlier. I rushed to back Quinn a bag and get it to him before the ambulance came. I saw Chase as they were loading him into the ambulance, he was white as a sheet, grunting in pain and not breathing normally. I was sick with worry.
The next 24 hours were so wierd. I took Jack and Tessa home to the house full of boxes and tried to give them some normallacy. They were both coughing and sick as well so I wanted to care for them but my mind was on Chase and Quinn. I unpacked boxes in a haze. My mind was so wrapped up in worried thoughts, what-ifs and what-should-I-dos that Jack often had to ask me 2 or 3 times for things he wanted or needed.
Quinn and I were in constant contact. I felt like he just kept giving me more and more bad news. I didn't know it at the time but he was actually giving me the good news. He told me later that he was scared out of his mind. When they got to the hospital all the personnel jumped into action. The room was filled with Drs, people were were ordering tests and getting them immediately. Everything was happening super fast. He watched as a Dr said to a tech, "Get me an xray machine now, not in 5 minutes...NOW!" The tech ran to get it. It was like an episode of ER.
Chase was immediately moved to the ICU. As night turned to day they said that his chest cavity was filling with fluid. There was so much fluid that it was actually displacing his trachea off to the side and pushing his diaphram, stomach and internal organs out of their places. They immediately put in a chest tube and drained off over 3 cups of fluid in just the first 12 hours. That is a crazy lot of fluid to come out of a tiny left chest cavity.
I hurriedly put together some suitcases and started off for San Antonio. Luckily we have an amazing ward in SA who jumped into action, set up a place for us to stay, greeted us with dinner and watched my kids while I went to the hospital. Chase was finally calmed down a little bit and resting fitfully. He had been in writhing, agonizing pain for over 30 hours straight. I stayed with him most of the night and got no rest as every 20 minutes or so he was needing something and every hour or so something new was developing. A new fever, a problem with his stomach, a blown IV, an agonizing IV attempt, blood draws for cultures etc. He was hooked up to a special high powered oxygen. At the worst point he was on 13 liters an hour and 100%. If he had gotten to 15 and 100% they would have had to intubate him and put him on a ventilator.
Every day we hoped that he would turn the corner and start to get better but Sunday turned into Monday, Monday to Tuesday and Wednesday after that. He had a hundred tests, xrays, ultrasounds, CT scans, blood cultures etc. By Thursday he was headed for surgery. The chest tube couldn't get to all the fluid in his chest cavity and what was left behind was 'walling off", essentially becoming abcesses around his lung.
They stopped giving him food and fluid at midnight, hoping that his procedures would start at 6 am. 8 am, nothing, 10 nothing, Noon, starving and thirsty but still a full OR schedule. 2 pm, nothing. Finally at 4 pm he was off for surgery. They had to put him on a ventilator, collapse his left lung, insert a camera and instruments into the chest cavity. Break up the infection, irrigate, suction and insert a new chest tube.
I was home taking care of the other kids. I couldn't leave Tessa for long periods because she is breastfeeding and won't take a bottle. I also didn't want to stress her out or have her miss her naps as she has been sick as well and I didn't want another severely sick child. Next to seeing Chase in pain, the hardest part about this has been not being able to be at the hospital all the time. I got her to bed and rushed to the hospital, my normal routine. I got there just at the surgeon came in to give the report that it had all gone well. She said she was surprised to see just how bad his lung looked on the camera. She would have expected a child with that bad of a lung to look alot worse on the outside.
The OR team wheeled his tiny little body into his room. I have never been so glad to touch and hold one of my children. Almost the first thing he said as he was coming around was "Wheres Jack!?" in a kind of grumpy voice. I will always remember that his first thought was of Jack, they sure have a special bond. Quinn and I laid on the bed next to Chase's and held each other. We had only seen each other in passing as we switched shifts at the hospital and had hardly spent an hour together in a week. We said a prayer of thanksgiving for our sweet Chase boy. The moment didn't last long, he had to head home to Jack, but it was special and made me so thankful to be married to such a wonderful man. Quinn has spent every waking minute with Chase through this ordeal. He literally only came home to sleep. He has been with him comforting, explaining, holding, lifting, reading, feeding, changing diapers and clothes, blessing him with the priesthood and being the best Dad anyone could ever ask for.
The night after surgery was a super rough night. His stomach essentially stopped moving because of all the surgery drugs. He had a huge anount of air trapped in the stomach causing intense pain. He just wantred to sleep but we had to roll him/sit him up every 30 min to try to het the air moving. To no avail, they had to put an NG tube down his throat (or nose? I wasnt there) to let some air escape. It was a terriffing and painful experience. The air moved more to the intestine, causing pain there. Another major complication is that all pain meds slow your gut down except for tylenol. So after major surgery Chase was only being given kid doses of Tylenol, insane.
Chase has been so tough through all this. I couldn't imagine going through what he has gone through. So much pain for such a little person. He has amazed Drs and nurses with his bravery and toughness. After one agonizing IV attempt the nurse commented that she was amazed that no one had to hold him down. She said most kids his age have to be restrained. He is such a good boy and always tries to do what is right. All that said, he is very down. For a while he only communicated the things he absolutely needed to survive, anything more was too hard. He didn't smile for a week. About 6 days into it Quinn told me Chase said, "Dad, you know you can ride on sharks." It was the first time his personality started to show through again.
Chase is now back in the regular pediatric unit. He still has a long road ahead. The dr said his lung is like a broken leg, it will prob take 6 weeks to heal and then additional time after that to become normal again. We don't know when we will go home. Chase continues to be in alot of pain from his stomach, which is irritated and swollen, and the chest tube.
Please pray for our Sweet Chase Boy. My family is holding a fast tomorrow if you would like to join your faith with ours please do.
I will try to keep the updates coming. This is the first time I have sat down at a computer in 11 days. I also want to say a huge Thank You to all the people who have helped us. We have had so much support. People are so wonderful, I am continually amazed by the christlike caring of others. I am so thankful for our little family and grateful we are sealed together. I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood, the comfort of the Holy Ghost and the power of prayer.
