A Long Over Due Update

by Amy

Well, many of you already know that our last week didn't go exactly as planned! So, here's the whole story....

On Tuesday, Alex was coughing quite a bit. After his nap, he seemed to be wheezing a little. We gave him some allergy medicine, but that didn't really seem to help. He was still able to talk and seemed to feel OK, so we didn't think much of it. I was in a meeting that night, so I wasn't there that evening when he went down, but Brad said he was still wheezing quite a bit. When we got ready to go to sleep, we decided to move Alex to our room so we'd be able to hear if he had any problems. By this time his breathing was pretty rapid. Sure enough, he woke me up about 12:30am. I gave him some more medicine and water and put him back to bed. At 1:30 he was whimpering and straining to get a breath. I was up right away! I had no idea what to do, so I gave him more cough/allergy medicine, and had him sit on my lap while the hot shower filled the bathroom with steam. That didn't seem to help at all! So, after sitting there for about 20 minutes, I brought Alex to bed with me. I thought if I could sit up and have him sleep on me, he'd be able to breathe better, but I was wrong. So, I woke Brad. He spent the next 1.5 hours online researching and emailing an American Dr. that lives in our country. Finally, about 3:30 am we all went to sleep, with Alex tossing, coughing, and wheezing the rest of the night.

Before 6:30am our American Dr. friend called to check on Alex. He asked a few diagnostic questions then suggested we go to a local hospital to have him looked at. This was quite an interesting experience.... I had been to this local hospital to visit my back doctor. I was prepared to see people smoking and spitting, but I had never been to the children's section.... The place was really crowded and loud. Lots of kids were talking and crying. People were walking by holding an bag attached to an IV in their child's hand or head. All of the nurses/receptionist were wearing face masks hoping to avoid infection, and it was NOT clean. I saw a couple of people throw up on the floor and a few puddles.... It definitely did not have the sterile hospital feel that you find in an American hospital. After waiting for our number to be called. We made our way to the examining room. But, it was really a small room with two desks and four chairs. Two chairs were taken by two Drs. and two were open for their patients to sit in. So, when it was time for Alex to be examined, he sat on my lap while the Dr. used her stethoscope to listen to his chest. Immediately she wanted to give him an IV to treat pneumonia. My American Dr. friend told me to call him if I needed help and warned us not to get and IV. So, since he can fluently speak in our local language, I called him.

Side note: Alex is cheerful and happy. He's laughing easily and enjoying playing with the cars that I brought for him. But, he's having a hard time breathing. The place is so loud, I cannot hear his wheezing, but he could not say, "the car movie" without taking 3 breaths. I counted and he was taking 60 breaths/minute.

Back to the hospital: My Dr. friend (and I) were not convinced Alex had pneumonia, but the local Dr. didn't/couldn't take and a chest x-ray. So, after going back and forth a few times, we ended up going home with an inhaler (to treat the wheezing) and antibiotic (to treat the possible pneumonia.) After aggressively treating Alex with the inhaler, three hours later, he was still breathing 60times/minute. At that point, our American Dr. friend recommended we get to a big city with a western hospital ASAP....

So, we put all three kids down for a nap (even Savannah as she was complaining of not feeling well, too); I began packing; Brad made hotel arrangements online and headed to the train station to buy tickets. Two days before our house helper, Leigh, had just been to the train station to buy us tickets for Saturday. We were planning on going to this big city to pick up Brad's mom and play for a few days. Now, we don't need Saturday morning tickets anymore, but we need Wednesday night tickets. Believe it or not, the station let us exchange our tickets without any fee! While Brad is running all over town, and I'm trying to pack three days earlier than expected, Leigh is busy making granola and muffins for us to take with us. Needless to say, by the time we left Wednesday at 5pm, our home was completely insane!

Alex slept for almost four hours that afternoon. Finally, we woke him at the last moment, threw some grapes at him for dinner, and piled in the taxi. After being on the road for about 15 minutes, Savannah starts whimpering, says, "My tummy hurts," and pauses long enough for me to grab Peter's jacket and thrust it under her chin to catch most of her vomit.... On the train, Alex seems to be breathing easier, finally. He was taking about 45 breaths/minute instead of 60 and can say more words without a breath. Savannah napped a good part of the way and only threw up once -- all over Brad -- about 5 minutes before we arrived at the train station.

So, next I dropped Brad, Savannah and Peter off at the hotel and headed to the ER with Alex. Even though his breathing was better, our Dr. recommended we still go to the ER right away as 45 breaths/minute was still too fast. As the doors opened to the hospital, I was convinced my taxi driver had driven over the ocean to a familiar American hospital. I was greeted in English, handed forms to fill out, (and I could read every word,) and directed to couches (next to the coffee bar) to wait. I didn't have to step over any puddles or worry about what Alex touched. And, since it was almost 11pm, we were seen right away. The Dr. washed his hands in the sink before he even touched Alex! It was quite a refreshing experience! The Dr. confirmed Alex did not not have pneumonia, gave him some additional medicine, taught me how to use a spacer with his inhaler, and we were back to the hotel by midnight.

The next morning, Alex was breathing so much better! He seemed like a new kid! Savannah, on the other hand, had not slept well all night and was not eating much. So, we took Thursday pretty slowly, eating Subway twice in our hotel room, and going to an English Disney movie showing in a theater in the basement of our hotel. Friday morning, I took Alex back to the Dr. for a follow-up apt. His oxygen level was still just a hair low, so the Dr. advised me to continue the breathing treatments for 5 days. He also was able to give me some advice on how to treat this if it ever happens again. (What a blessing!) The rest of our time in the big city was wonderful, but I shall blog about that at another time!

We have received many emails from loving people expressing their concern and care for us as we travelled. We definitely felt your prayers and know they made a significant difference in the outcome. Thank you so much for loving and caring for us as you do!