Kayli is always telling me “Mom, let’s go on an adventure!” So, those were the very words I used with her, while at the doctor’s office, when the doctor told me I would need to take Kayli by ambulance to be admitted to the hospital!
So, let’s start at the beginning. On Tuesday afternoon I got a call from Kayli’s daycare telling me that she was running a high fever. Once home, her oral temp registered 103.6. She was miserably hot and we all know how Kayli hates being hot! I gave her all the standard “at home treatments” ibuprofen, food, fluids, sympathy, and a watchful eye. She seemed to start perking up, just in time for bed. I decided to see how things looked in the morning and head to the “walk-in clinic” at our pediatrician’s office if she hadn’t made the typical “Quick Kayli turnaround”. The next morning her oral temp was 104.4. She was coughing and wheezing and rapid-shallow-breathing. So off we went to the pediatrician. We spent the next 3 hours “camped out” in the tiny examining room, while the staff attempted to get Kayli’s low blood oxygen level into the minimally acceptable range by administering breathing treatments, spaced apart at pre-determined intervals, giving her an oral steroid, and adding some oxygen “for good measure”. (mind you this is my non-medical interpretive description of the sequence of events/treatments) The treatment would help briefly, then the level would drop again. So, eventually the doctor told me that Kayli would need to be taken by ambulance to one of the Children’s hospitals where Kayli would have to spend the night. The doctor turned to Kayli and told her what she just told me. Kayli’s eyes got as big as saucers, and I could see the panic in her face as she asked the doc if her mom could come too. I quickly “jumped in” with “Hey, you know what Kayli? You and I are going on an adventure today!” “We get to ride in an ambulance, and I have my camera in my purse so we can take pictures of our adventure!” Relief clearly registered on her face as she gave me a weak smile. She and I were sooo ready to get out of this little room, but I really hadn’t planned on this kind of detour in our day/week. The wearing of the green on St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t so lucky for us today. Well, except for the fact that I happened to have my camera in my purse! AND, really, Kayli and I are always up for turning our events into an adventure!!!
How nice, that Erin, the paramedic, gave Kayli this little sombrero-wearing-pony, on the ride to the hospital!
The Respiratory Therapist connects Kayli to the blood oxygen level monitor, by putting the "cool sticker with the red light" on her big toe...
The nurse was immediately given top class status when she brought in a DVD for Kayli and it was, yes, you guessed it, LAND BEFORE TIME!!! AND, the bigger surprise was that this was one we hadn't seen before. I thought we had every one that was out there!!!
So the admission desk is directly across from the gift shop window, where this darling poodle purse was hanging! Of course I had to get it for my "container/purse loving girl" and fill it with a few trinkets to brighten up her day!
This is a quilt donated by a group of Olathe Quilters for the children at this hospital to have on their beds as they are admitted. What a HUGE impact this had on Kayli. She couldn't believe someone gave her this beautiful quilt! She kept saying "Mom, just look at this beautiful quilt." She was sure someone made it just for her, because this quilt had rainbow colored butterflies, and how did they know that Kayli's favorite color was "all the colors of the rainbow!"
Then, while one of the nurses carried Kayli to get her chest x-rays, they had a nice discussion about Kayli's favorite foods, which this nice nurse ordered for Kayli's dinner. Even though the kitchen sent cheese pizza instead of cheeseburger, Kayli was thrilled to see someone walk through the door carrying her favorite, Mac N' Cheese!
Without a nap today, I knew Kayli would eventually just "drop in her tracks"!
Kayli had at least 4 stuffed animal "friends" to snuggle with tonight. Still not enough, though, since she insisted she needed me to snuggle and sleep with her in this cozy little hospital bed!!! There was a designated "mommy bed" in the room (the vinyl window-seat could be transformed into a makeshift bed) but Kayli saw no sense in me sleeping way across the room when I could just be right next to her in her bed! AND I use the term "sleep" lightly, since every time we would start to drift off, the monitor would start beeping (this meant that Kayli's blood oxygen level had dipped below a certain number) and it would continue to beep until the number returned to normal by either switching Kayli's position, having her cough, etc. etc.
We were disappointed that Aunt Laura was out of town this week, since this is "her hospital" and she could have been right here to greet us when we came. When she found out about our stay, though, she emailed a mutual friend who works here, and she made a surprise appearance at our room early this morning, bearing gifts of all kinds, that would help Kayli pass the time; DVDs, a cool Barbie computer, markers and coloring pages, a giant bunny, etc. etc. Kayli thinks this place is the best!
The doctor does a final assessment to determine if Kayli can go home today...fever gone, breathing better, lungs are sounding good...so the doctor says "Yes" we can go home. Kayli says "But Mom, can't we just stay til we watch the rest of these DVDs?!!!"
Everything's packed in the special wagon for the ride down to the car. Woohoo!
Good-bye Children's Hospital... time to get on with what's left of our Spring Break!
