Day #58 Jan 1st 2014 until today Jan 19

I have been gone for some time. As I wrote on Day 57, Max was not feeling well. Cold, fever, congestion. On January 1st in the early evening after appearing to me to be feeling a little better, asking on his talker to do much of our normal routine, he got worse. After a bath, he came out and sat on the couch, something about his eyes looked different. I called my Mom and told her I was taking him back to the emergency room. I had a difficult time getting him dressed and knew at that time that I had to call 911 for help. While on the phone with 911 he had a seizure.
I was terrified, and in shock, as the paramedics came in, getting him checked out and then rushing us to the hospital. Upon getting examined at the hospital, they determined he needed to be airlifted to The University of Iowa Hospital, where he would be admitted in the Pediatric ICU. The doctors could not tell me if he was going to be ok.
When we could go into see him in ICU he was deeply sedated and on a ventilator. He had several IVs attached and monitors everywhere. At this point they were unsure what had made him so sick. The following day they concluded it was something called an Adenovirus. A common cold virus. The doctors saying they may see one or two kids a year that get it this badly. This virus had taken over his lungs, and ultimately began to spread to his kidneys. For a couple of days they thought he would need dialysis. His kidneys recovered miraculously without having to do that thankfully.
Max remained on the ventilator slowly making progress and 9 days later they removed the ventilator, the following day he was moved out of ICU to the regular pediatric unit. The day after that, I got to take him home.
For the last several days he has been slowly regaining his strength and appetite, slowly getting back to the vivacious kiddo that we all know and love. It is wonderful to see him dancing in the car again.
I will never get over seeing him go through that, my heart will never heal from the guilt, despite the doctors telling me that I couldn't have known that it would end up like it did.
My sweet Max, the boy that gets perfect attendance certificates every year at school, that never seems to get sick. Went from a picture of health, to fighting for his life.
I took him for a follow up check up at his regular doctor here in my town and everything looks great, his doctor thinks that he may have gotten two different cold viruses at the same time, basically overwhelming his body. Some strains of this adenovirus are very aggressive according to the doctor.
I know this, I thank God for saving my son, I thank the doctors and nurses who relentlessly cared for him and treated him. He was in the best of hands and I feel blessed that he is going to be ok.
I will write in a few days when things around here get back to normal.
Thanks to all of you who read the facebook updates and sent prayers all the days he was at the hospital, and to those of you who still ask for updates on how hes doing. I can say today that my sweet Max is on the road to recovery!!!

Until tomorrow....

Day #57

     I should have written this last night when the fear was fresh in my blood.....
Max has not felt well since Christmastime. Instead of getting better he appeared to me, to be getting worse. He hadn't eaten for 2 days, or did any of our normal routines, he just wanted to lay in his room, and sleep.
     Last night, I think it must just be that "Mom feeling" we all get, that something is just not right. I  couldn't look at his big blue eyes for another minute and see him suffering... literally suffering in silence, while panic was eating me alive. I took him to the emergency room, and although it is just a bug that will have to run its course, he has a fever. I was awake until 7am trying to squirt all these little containers of motrin in his mouth while he slept on and off.  Each attempt woke him up and he'd spit it out, so most of what he needed to take.... has been scrubbed off of his bedroom carpet instead.
     Despite the fever and retched cough that makes him vomit, he still was just as much a fighter in the hospital. I will be relentlessly trying to get more motrin and Tylenol in him throughout the day.
I'm so exhausted and I know he must be, he sleeps 10 minutes and wakes up. I wish he could just rest, I know it would help..
Happy New Year to all of you!
Until later....