First Visit to the PICU

Hopefully this will be our last or at least space them 2 years apart. As we were in the ER, they decided it would be best to admit her so that we could get the best possible care for her and figure out what was going on. After 5 hours in the ER we were admitted to the PICU. After 2 hours of settling in we finally had a chance to close our eyes at 4:30 am. 

After labs, cultures, x-rays..the consensus was a small pneumonia in her lower left lung (which is a trouble spot for her) and an infection somewhere that was affecting her platelets, her white blood cells and her bodies ability to make new white blood cells. One of our concerns was that her g-tube site was bleeding, which is something that has never happened. I think this was happening because when these numbers are low, your body has a hard time clotting your blood. We were also able to draw labs from her IV after 3 days of it being in. That is really unheard of. Another sign of how low her platelets where. Anyway, she received IV antibiotics and fluids, which I think helped very quickly. Luckily, this illness that had us in the PICU did not affect her respiratory wise. She was never snotty, junky, more secretions, something we are so grateful for. Her infection just wiped her out! We had some fantastic nurses that came back the whole time we were there, such a blessing. I actually felt very comfortable leaving Maggie to eat or when we had to leave for shift change. That is something I have never felt before.   

 We got really creative and used her Cough Assist to help us dry her hair..hehehe

 Anyone with a smile like that should not be in the hospital.

Another of our favorite gifts was a crocodile flashlight that ticks. Dad had some fun being sneaky, but Maggie always knew where it was. Once Maggie started to feel much better, her little personality came shinning out! We wanted to get out of there as quick as possible because it was packed with RSV kiddos and other yucky sicknesses that Maggie so did NOT need to pick up while there. So we made her put her charm on and she did her part. She sang her Snow White song to them, she was happy, interactive, and very responsive. Good girl!! Now let's get back to our streak of not visiting the hospital. The plus side was being together the rest of the week with Dad.