RSV & The Burton Household - Winter 2022 edition

The small kiddos are sick again

This is a hard one to write. As I write our 2 youngest children, our 2 and 4 year old are downstairs taking naps while being watched by my father. They both have colds again and have been out of daycare for 3 days. These colds are particularly scary for me because in October, they both had RSV that developed into pneumonia. I know the statistics, kids their age get sick every month, but it still doesn’t feel good to watch it. 

October 2022, worsening symptoms, our ambulance ride and hospitalization

I remember when their symptoms started back in October, just like every cold, one of them got a cough and runny nose and then the next day the other one developed it as well. My dad stepped in and began to keep them daily since they couldn’t attend daycare. Each day we hoped their symptoms would improve, but they became worse and worse. By day 5, they both had had days of high fevers, our 2 year old up to 104.7 and they were increasingly tired. Our 4 year old would say “I go night night” and he would lay on the floor wherever he was.

One evening I was up working on a few tasks after the kiddos had all gone to bed and I heard our 2 year old coughing. It was a bad episode and then I heard her whispering “mommy.” If you know her, she does not whisper. She is a very loud child like her mama and brothers. I ran upstairs and saw her struggling to breath and my heart stopped. I had taken care of countless children like that, in respiratory distress and I knew without intervention it would get worse and I have seen children not survive. I quickly woke up my husband as I held her and changed out of my pajamas and called the on-call physician with our medical practice. I asked to go directly to a pediatric emergency room (ER) that was a bit further from our house because I knew our local ER was over capacity but we were told to take her to the associated urgent care. 

During triage at the urgent care, the physician knew she needed a higher level of care and Emergency Medical Services was called while they placed her on oxygen and a breathing treatment. I have never been in an ambulance before and it is NOT for me but I’m so glad she had the team that she did. When we arrived at the pediatric ER it was filled beyond capacity with patients lining the hallways. I ended up running into one of my GW medical students doing the very same rotation I had done as a medical student. She gave me a hug and it was very comforting. 

After 22 hours and 8 hours of oxygen support, we were discharged home from the ER because there were not enough beds to admit us to the regular pediatric floor. Many thanks to the urgent care team, the EMS crew who explained everything to me, my medical student, the ER doctors, and my mother who sat with us for the entire ordeal while my hubby and father watched the other kiddos at home! Being the patient during a global pandemic during a viral surge does not feel good. 

Final thoughts

This cold and flu season has been just terrible and I am right there with you. Sometimes children get RSV and have mild symptoms like our kiddos are having now and sometimes they get really sick and have complications such as pneumonia. Make sure to let your child’s physician know when your kiddos are sick so they can help you know what to watch out for and when to worry.

Here is a picture of us leaving the hospital. Baby Girl refused to be carried, she was like let’s go home!!!