Another Hospital Stay for Matthew

For those who haven't heard, Matthew has been hospitalized again for breathing trouble and a hurting tummy. He is doing good at this point, but we definitely appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts! Hopefully he can go home tomorrow. Here is a quick recap for those interested.

So, a little background...Matthew has complained off and on for about a year that his tummy hurts. There's no rhyme or reason as to when....it just comes and goes. I'd mentioned it to doctors a couple times but they just kind of shrugged it off. And it wasn't consistent enough for me to really push the issue...just figured it was because he wasn't eating enough or something.  About 3 weeks ago, he caught a stomach bug. Everyone else that got it only had it for a day or two, but Matthew's lasted longer. He's been fine recently, but has had diarrhea the entire time.

The last 3 nights, Matthew has woken up periodically throughout the night crying that his tummy hurt and coughing. He would usually go back to sleep pretty quickly. Last night he was up most of the night crying and moaning. This morning I was planning on taking him to urgent care, but his stomach pain got so bad I dropped Emma off at a neighbor's and took Matthew to the ER. (Jon was already at work at this point). Right before we left, his breathing got really labored. He was really struggling and I was freaked out! At the ER they gave him albuterol, which got his oxygen levels up a little. I think they were in the 80th% when we got there. They also drew some blood and did chest x-rays. His x-rays came back perfect, but the blood test showed high levels of liver enzymes. Because of his recent bout with pneumonia and the increased enzyme levels, they decided to have him taken to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.An ambulance came and picked him up and I went and got Jon so we could both go to the hospital with him. I've decided that watching your screaming, terrified child be strapped to a gurney and put in an ambulance alone with complete strangers and not being able to go with them is one of the worst things ever.

At the hospital, they got him hooked up to all of his monitors and had been giving him Albuterol every 2 hours. Around 4:30, they decided to start doing it every 4 hours, since he was doing so well. As far as I can remember they really didn't do much else today (though it's all kind of a blur). There was just a lot of questioning and breathing treatments and promises of consulting with the rest of the team of doctors to figure out the next move. His oxygen levels remained good all day, so they mostly just want to monitor them overnight and figure out what triggered the reoccurence of breathing issues. We were initially told asthma, but later told that that was just a possibility. We saw several doctors throughout the day, and each one told us something different....though they all told us they are going to consult and see how the night goes. We asked about his tummy hurting and the ongoing diarrhea and were told by one doctor that they aren't looking at that right now, they're just focusing on the breathing issue but they can make recommendations for our pediatrician to look into further after he goes home- that was frustrating! The last doctor we saw seemed the most proactive out of all of them. She thinks all the issues may be connected (which I think too) and listed several tests that she would like to do- though I don't remember any off the top of my head. She also mentioned that he has several symptoms of cystic fibrosis and wants to test for that too. I don't really think that's the issue, but who knows?

At this point, me and Ellie have come for the night. Jon is staying with Matthew tonight. Emma has been with our neighbors/friends all day. They are keeping her tonight and between 3 of our neighbors she will get to/from school and be taken care of as long as we need. Jon has to go into work tomorrow so I will go back to the hospital first thing in the morning with Ellie and then we'll play it by ear from there. Hopefully we'll be going home at some point tomorrow!

I am tired (as is Jon) but doing good otherwise. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the way everything has come together and worked out the best that they could under the circumstances. I am so grateful for good friends and neighbors (one of which I only met for the second time today) who are so willing to do anything they can to help and who jumped in and helped without any notice. I am grateful to be surrounded by such good people, to know that all of my children, in all the places they are tonight, are being cared for. I am grateful for Jon, for being there with me and for staying with Matthew tonight. I am grateful for the thoughts, concerns, and prayers from all of you. And I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for watching over us. I have had many prayers answered today and have felt peace. I know that everything will be okay....just hoping for answers now.