On Labor Day weekend 2008 Nora developed a mild fever, nothing major but for a 3yr child any fever can be a cause for concern. On Sunday & Monday of the holiday weekend we broke out the Motrin & Tylenol, and that seemed to break the fever, however by Tuesday she had a slight cough.
We decided to keep her home and take her to a new pediatrician because her original one she had since birth had just moved out of town. The doctor we saw said it was probably viral and to wait it out. Honestly we got the feeling we were bothering him with a child with a cold.
On Wednesday morning I did feel confident in the doctors diagnoses but would give it a go. I decided one more day home from school for her and work for me was in order. That is where things began to move very quickly.
We decided to keep her home and take her to a new pediatrician because her original one she had since birth had just moved out of town. The doctor we saw said it was probably viral and to wait it out. Honestly we got the feeling we were bothering him with a child with a cold.
On Wednesday morning I did feel confident in the doctors diagnoses but would give it a go. I decided one more day home from school for her and work for me was in order. That is where things began to move very quickly.
Sept 1st. 2008
At 9am Nora and I gave my parents a ride to the Airport as they were going on vacation, all was good. She said she felt better and seemed to have a ton of energy. After the airport we went back home to take it easy for the day. By noon that day she started complaining she wasn’t feeling good, I suggested she would feel better after a nap. The nap was very restless and just by watching, I got the feeling things were not right.
By 3:30pm she had waken up and was having issues breathing, almost panting. I would rub her belly, which would calm her down slightly, but it was still very difficult for her to breath. I called her mother at worked and told her might want to come home as we needed to get her back to the doctor asap.
Somewhere around 4:30/5:00pm we had her back at the pediatricians office. We were able to see a different doctor who preceded to check oxygen level which had not been done the day before. It had fallen to 51%, that and the other symptoms were cause enough to immediately call an Ambulance because the hospital next door, Mountain View, does not have a Pediatric ICU.
By 3:30pm she had waken up and was having issues breathing, almost panting. I would rub her belly, which would calm her down slightly, but it was still very difficult for her to breath. I called her mother at worked and told her might want to come home as we needed to get her back to the doctor asap.
Somewhere around 4:30/5:00pm we had her back at the pediatricians office. We were able to see a different doctor who preceded to check oxygen level which had not been done the day before. It had fallen to 51%, that and the other symptoms were cause enough to immediately call an Ambulance because the hospital next door, Mountain View, does not have a Pediatric ICU.
Sept 6th, 2008
After arriving at Summerlin Hospital and being escorted into the Emergency room, she was put on oxygen and tests were being run. They had her lying flat on her back and it just looked uncomfortable, my wife thought that maybe raising the bed slightly might help her comfort a bit. Upon doing that, Nora let out a scream that was unbelievable to come from such a little girl. Hearing this, the nurse & doctor came back over to the bed. A stat order for a chest x-ray was ordered. The next little while seemed to last forever, in reality it was 15/20 minutes, but sure did feel like a lifetime.
The X-ray showed a few different things. One was a Pneumothorax in her right lung. The other thing it showed was very puzzling, her lungs were filled with debris. To this day, we do not know where this came from. By 6pm she was put on a ventilator(life support).
The X-ray showed a few different things. One was a Pneumothorax in her right lung. The other thing it showed was very puzzling, her lungs were filled with debris. To this day, we do not know where this came from. By 6pm she was put on a ventilator(life support).