Sunday, April 10, 2011

Pneumonia

Here's the things that I know about pneumonia: In Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, her son gets it. I remember her describing his symptoms as something like, "He'll complain about being cold,  but he's burning with fever. When he complains of being hot, he's chilled to the bone." So anytime that I felt like my temperature was unbalanced in anyway, I'd suspect pneumonia.



That's really about it. I think I remember that my friend Hannah had it before I knew her. I know that it can be serious for the elderly, mainly because a lot of older celebrities seem to die of it. Most of my geriatric health knowledge comes from the obituaries on People.com. (Ok, and the years I worked at an Alzheimer's Ward.)

Well, despite my ignorance of pneumonia, pneumonia has decided not to be ignorant of us. I'm not sure that sentence makes sense- what I'm trying to say is that Adam has pneumonia. Poor baby.

He'll be ok. It's a mild case, the doctor says. The chest x-rays were hard for them to completely decipher, because Adam wiggled around too much, but there was some evidence of pneumonia and his oxygen and blood tests confirmed that there's something wrong.

It's weird, because he seemed sick, but not THAT sick. So, even after the doctor diagnosed him, I wasn't completely convinced. Mostly because the medical assistant taking his oxygen levels kept confiding to me that she had no idea what she was doing- not her most professional moment. But I believed the diagnosis yesterday, when: 1. his fever spiked and 2. I realized that I could walk up to his crib without him waking up. Normally, he pops up as soon as he hears the creaking door, so something must be going on.

He seems to be doing better, his temperature hasn't spiked today, but he's still sick. I know this because I just snuck up to his crib and took this picture. That's me, risking my son's comfort for blog journalism.

Get well soon, Mr. Wiggles!

7 comments:

Hannah Richins said...

Oh that is so sad! Poor Adam! I hope he gets better soon! I don't remember much about my pneumonia...other than I had to stay in bed for a long time and I just wanted to be back at school. It's really the saddest thing when babies are sick...poor baby! Get better soon!!!

Brent and Shanna Farley said...

Poor little buddy! I hope he feels better soon!!!!!

Kenyon and Jeannette Petersen said...

I'm sorry your little man is sick! I hear having sick kids is no fun for numerous reasons! We miss you guys and hope Adam gets to feeling better soon! Text me sometime!

Natalie said...

Poor little guy!!! Hope he gets better soon!
Also, loved the Mrs. Frisbee reference! Loved that book growing up. I wish I could be as hilarious as you.

Fresh and Feisty said...

Scary! Hope he's feeling better and that you are not stressing too much.

Karissa said...

I'm glad that he is feeling better, even if it's just a little...poor guy! i was so sad when you told me.

On a happier note, I'm in love with your new layout.

James said...

Pneumonia is an inflammatory response in the alveoli of the lung. It is a symptom of a primary cause. The blood test is for the increase presence of
white blood cells indicating a pathogenic (bacterial, viral, fungal,
etc, cause. The rapidness of onset would indicate a bacterial, likely
streptococcus, infection. The Oxygen test is to determine how much O2 is defusing into the blood stream, meaning how much more the little guy has to breath to maintain oxygenation.
You'll have to forgive me, that's
just the way I think.
Point is; just do what the doctor tells you, let the little guy sleep, give him plenty to drink, and there is no reason he shouldn't be back up and wiggling in no time.