No matter how old your children are, they are still your baby. That was how I felt tonight as I spent the better part of 3 hours at the emergency room with my youngest son. He went to the doctor today and they discovered he has Influenza. Now I thought the flu and influenza is the same thing, but apparently not. The influenza is much more severe and dangerous. They even can swab your nostril to see if you have influenza! Anyway, the doctor gave him a prescription for two medications. One was a flu medicine that supposedly shortened the duration of the flu and helped with the symptoms. The other medication was a cough medicine that also helped the nausea. My son took the first medicine around 8:00 pm then came in to me about 40 minutes later telling me that his throat felt like it was closing up and he couldn’t breath. I knew immediately that he was having an allergic reaction. This is my son who is allergic to three different antibiotics, that we know of, and I have seen him react to medicines like this before. Right after this, he threw up and I immediately started getting dressed to take him to the emergency room and my older son went along, too. It was quite scary and I actually asked him as I got closer to the Fire Station if he was sure he could make it to the hospital. I figured if he was really not breathing well, I could stop at the Fire Station and they would at least be able to do the necessary things to help him breathe, however, we did make it to the hospital. They immediately took him back and started working on him. They put an IV in and gave him a huge amount of Benedryl, a steriod, morphine, plus two bags of fluids. He was very dehydrated. The doctor said he definitely was allergic to this medicine and wants him to take the steroid for four more days, plus more Benedryl and another medicine. I am so thankful for our local hospital and the wonderful doctors and nurses who are always so caring and professional. They told us that this horrible influenza is really running rampant in our community. He also wasn’t terribly impressed by this flu medicine. I had never heard of it, but obviously, no one in our family will ever take it again!
My son is now home, tucked safely in bed, and sleeping like a baby, which he will always be to me. It is so frightening to look in the eyes of your child and know that they are frightened and looking to you to fix the problem. In the hospital, he kept looking at me this way and I just sat with my hand on him to give him comfort and let him know I was there. What more could I do? Yet it was everything. My husband really would have liked to have gone, but we can’t leave my MIL here alone. I kept him updated by phone as to what was happening. He was so thankful to see our son back home and okay again.
I spent the day nursing my knee. It’s horribly swollen and painful. I have never had a reaction like this to a knee shot before and I’m rather distressed about it. I’m having to walk with a cane and can’t bend my knee hardly at all. This whole knee situation has been rather upsetting and I’m still a bit miffed at how my doctor treated me. I even woke up in the night upset about it and shed a few tears. *sigh* I really don’t understand why some men become doctors if they don’t have the compassion for their patients that they should have. Huge difference between my experience and the experience my son had at the hospital…and I’m so grateful for that. I absolutely want my son to be treated with care and concern!
I’m so tired. It’s almost 2:30 in the morning, but after such a scary episode, I’m finding it hard to sleep. I’ll go and check on my son at least once more before feeling comfortable about going to sleep myself.
I’m praising God that we got to the hospital in time, that they knew exactly what to do to help him, and that my son is breathing normally again. Now I’m praying that my son will get over this influenza quickly and that he will feel better! Your prayers are very much appreciated, too!
God bless you – Julie
