Kameron at Children's Hospital

Kameron with all his stuffed animals.

Al Gator, Buster, and Teddy

One of our nurses yesterday suggested setting up a blog so that all of our friends and family could be updated on our little Kam at the same time. Duh- I have a blog, albeit I haven't written for over a year. So here goes! Reader discretion advised.

A little history:

Friday March 25 was the first day that Kameron started to show an signs of being sick. He started coughing and coughed almost constantly for about 24 hours. He stayed home from school and we thought he's be fine by Monday. Saturday, though, the fever came. He had a temperature of about 102 to 104 until Wednesday. We treated him for flu (fluids, motrin, and lots and lots of rest). Wednesday afternoon his temperature dropped to normal and his cough seemed like it was going away. We were relieved, but then Thursday, his belly began to hurt. His temp stayed around normal so I thought all the IB Profin was getting to his stomach. We tried to get him to eat, but he wouldn't eat more than a couple bites of anything. He continued to drink water and gatorade through all of this though so I didn't think that he was dehydrated. Thursday night, the stomach pain and coughing was getting worse and the fever returned so we decided it was time to see our pediatrician. I hadn't made an appointment, but wanted to get him in so I went straight there after dropping the other kids off at school. Dr. Green was off so we went to Dr. Quinn (on-call). He checked Kameron out noticing how dehydrated he looked (I didn't know what that looked like) and thought we might be dealing with influenza (like I thought), but wanted us to get to the hospital right away. I dropped off my little Briton at Amber's (she sent me with lunch, quarters, and some money---I cried!!!) and off we went to the pediatric floor of the Wyoming Medical Center where the nurses kind of freaked a little. They were really worried about him, and got an IV started right away. They said he was the sickest guy they've seen all year. Doctor ordered blood tests and a chest x-ray. Took a little while to get all this done and get the doctor over to decide what to do. At first, the nurses were diagnosing him with diabetes telling us this is the way most parents find out for the first time. His blood sugar was like 542 or something completely outrageous. The chest x-rays told a different story and Doctor suggested that we go to Denver since he doesn't do chest tubes very often and doesn't have support staff or a children friendly ICU. We said, "Okay, let's go." So about 2:00pm Kameron and I loaded up on an ambulance to our airport and were life-flighted to Children's Hospital in Denver, CO. That was scary. Our great friend Todd was on his way to the hospital already (he's a doc) and helped Steve give our little man a priesthood blessing. Chuck (the main medic on the flight) was so nice and great with Kameron, but kept warning me that he may have to intubate Kam in flight. He didn't We arrived in ICU at about 4:00pm. Steve and the other kids came down in the Mazda that night. They stayed at the Drury Inn where they have enjoyed free breakfast and dinner and popcorn and soda. Pretty great hotel. They would recommend it to anyone!

Since we've been here:

Friday night was full of IVs and tests and pokes and x-rays. Within 2 hours, the attending doctor was ready to put in a chest tube. They sedated him with Ketamine a terrible hallucinogen drug, removed about 300 ml of fluid via syringe, inserted a chest tube, and hooked him up to a little suction machine. They warned me again that they might have to intubate him, but didn't.

That first night was awful. The sedative caused him not to know where he was. He woke up every few minutes fighting all the tubes and other monitors hooked up to him. At one point he pulled his IV out and had to be restrained. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday consisted of test after test, chest x-ray every morning, blood draws every day and oxygen turned up pretty high. He has put out an additional 900 CCs of fluid and pus. Monday he got out of bed a few times and sat in the chair with mom and dad. He walked just a little and was given the okay to move out of the ICU.

Monday night was a little rough because his medications were all late because of the move so his fever was up and he felt pretty crummy. His breathing rate was fast again and his oxygen was a little on the low side again. (He's been on oxygen the whole time).

BUT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAS BEEN AMAZING!!!!!!!

I've seen a glimpse of my little boy again after a week and a half!!!! I've had a hard time not tearing up (from joy) today watching him do some things for himself again. He opened his own milk for dinner and ate a few bites of cereal on his own. He's shifting around in the bed, and learning forward on his own. This afternoon, I went to the activity center and picked out some crafts and a book. He made a foam visor for himself and a foam doorknob hanger for Keely. He's working on a very detailed coloring picture of turtles for Damon. Tomorrow we'll find something for him to make for Briton. Right now we're having movie night (Planet 51) with popcorn and juice. His spirits are good today. He's so much more happy than he has been, smiling and he even laughed once. Kam got the best gift today-- a cuter than cute little teddy bear (he asked for one after his finger poke this morning) attached to 4 balloons from "his friends at Manor Heights." (They didn't know about that and it was perfect!)

As for me:

I started out really sad of course and worried and panicked. Each day has been a little easier especially because he's doing better. (No guarantees though-doctors say there's still a lot of pus in there and he still has fever. If it doesn't keep draining through the tube they may have to go in surgically to remove more and reposition the tube. We'll know more in the morning after x-ray).

I got here with 2 outfits, 2 undies, my toothbrush, and my make-up. Oh and my computer... of course I remembered that! (I had it with me cause I was going to do homework at the hospital in Casper.) Steve and the kids brought me a few more things and my dear friend Kristi brought me some snacks and clothes (she totally saved the day). Each day, I've spent a little time with the other kids in the waiting area (they're not really even allowed in the hospital since it's respiratory season) but no one said anything. Yesterday we out on the town while Steve stayed with Kam. We hit Bass Pro Shop and bought a shirt and cargo pants for me and then we ate at TGIFriday. We were gone a good 2 1/2 hours. I know that I need to get away a little but it's hard to leave my little dude. He does pretty well while I run and get games or drinks or dinner. If I need a longer break while Steve and the kids are home (they left today) I can have one of the volunteers come and sit with him. He might like that. I think they would play a game with him or something.

THE BED IN HERE S$#%CKS!!!!!!!! THE PAD IS LIKE AN INCH THICK!! but I actually haven't been too sore. 3 to 4 hours sleep each night. Last night I dreamed though, that's probably a good sign that I slept a little deeper. I don't have anything to do my hair with except one hair deal and one bobby pin. (Kristi bought me a cute hat too.) I grew a monster third eye (zit) on my forehead on the way here in the airplane. I bonked my eyebrow on the door jam at the Mexican restaurant Saturday night and it's swollen and sore still. Hmmm... what else? But it's not about me. I have to take good care of my little boy! My mom and Maggie would be so glad to know that I'm eating my veggies and fruit and drinking a ton of water. I can't get sick while I'm here and I'm worried about that because I'm staying in a hospital and I'm sleep deprived.

We can fell your prayers and we know that they are helping us. We can see the Lord's hand in all things as we go through this awful traumatic situation. We love you all! I am going to try to update everyday to keep you all informed.

Love, Joey