Miles recovered pretty quickly from his March episode and enjoyed playing outside in the sandbox, even in the
cold drizzle (mostly). The boys are probably happiest to have a yard to play in again. Aunt Julie babysat the boys while Jim and I saw Patti Griffin at the Boulder Theater. Julie made the mistake of taking the boys out for ice cream in the rain; they made her put on
their full Holland rain gear. As the boys settled into Colorado, snow, and their old rooms, Eliot really enjoyed finding his toys left behind and
playing dress up with our winter gear, among other things.
More photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/skinnybarnchick/March2007
Scary Hospital Visit
The kids and I had been back less than 2 weeks before Jim headed off to Australia and New Zealand for his first work trip in his new job; it was a 2-week trip. While he was gone, we got into new routines of school (4 days a week), meeting up with friends, and working in the garden. Although Jim and his parents had done a lot of unpacking, we still had to reorganize the boys bedrooms from all the new things we acquired in our European adventure.
The night before Jim was to start his 24-hour journey home, Miles developed a cough and had a difficult night sleeping on Thursday night. During our time in Holland, Miles had 3 asthma episodes that escalated fairly quickly. We'd only been home 3 weeks, and I am sure exposure to new germs and the altitude didn't help. By Friday morning, Miles was having great difficulty breathing and the albuturol was not working well. He only wanted to be held by me.
When I called at 9 am for an appointment, the doctor gave us a 4 pm appointment. Through a very bad judgement call by the doctor and her nurse (and something I still can't relive), we didn't get medical attention until late Friday afternoon. By that time, Miles was moaned constantly and had very labored and quick breathing. Immediately, the doctor realized that Miles was seriously ill and admitted us to the hospital. Though it was quite scary until 7 pm, a new medicine worked on his lungs & breathing; and his breathing finally slowed. By 7:30 pm, he was out of the woods, as they say. By this time, Jim was already inflight, so he had no idea that Miles was even sick (much less in the hospital).
Aunt Julie came to pick up Eliot about the time Miles' body was finally doing better. Up til then, Eliot was busy running the hospital hallways and taking out toys to play with. Eliot was not in the least worried about his brother and saw this as an adventure with Aunt Julie.
Miles ended up staying in the hospital 2 nights. He was on oxygen and had an IV until late Saturday night. I stayed with him at the hospital. I got in touch with Jim in the LA airport right after he missed his flight to Denver. A friend brought him to Boulder and dropped him off at the hospital Saturday evening. Julie, being wiped out, handed Eliot over to Jim and went home to rest! Jim took Eliot to dinner and went to bed after his big travel day.
By Sunday late morning, Miles was a changed person. Though he wasn't back to his funny self, he certainly was happy and interested in playing. He wanted no part of staying in bed like he had the last 48 hours. By the time we were released from the hospital, he was jumping off the couch and running down the hallway.
Days later as I processed how sick Miles was and talked with the doctor about the situation and care received, I realized that Miles' body could have easily just given up that Friday afternoon. After the doctor's lack of acknowledgement of any responsibility and the fact that she had unnecessarily put his life in danger, I found a new doctor for the boys - a 75-year old pediatrician with a passion for treating asthma kids. Gotta love the gray hairs! It took me weeks to come to terms with the fact that he could have died that day - I am still coming to terms with it (3 months later).
Miles recovered pretty quickly from his March episode and enjoyed playing outside in the sandbox, even in the cold drizzle (mostly). The boys are probably happiest to have a yard to play in again. Aunt Julie babysat the boys while Jim and I saw Patti Griffin at the Boulder Theater. Julie made the mistake of taking the boys out for ice cream in the rain; they made her put on their full Holland rain gear. As the boys settled into Colorado, snow, and their old rooms, Eliot really enjoyed finding his toys left behind and playing dress up with our winter gear, among other things.
