RSV

There is a long version of this story that no one would ever want to read, so here are our past 2 weeks in a nutshell:

Cataleya is high risk, so she receives the Synagis vaccine every month to prevent RSV. The shots are $4,000 each and they are needed every moth from November -April. She got her November and December dose, and was scheduled to get the January dose on the 21st.

On the 16th, she started with a runny nose and fever, so we brought her to the pediatrician and they did a flu swab. The next day they called to say she did not have the flu, she had RSV. She was really sleepy that day, but nothing terrible. At 3am on Friday the 18th, Cataleya's overnight nurse woke us up because Cataleya was having a difficult time keeping her oxygen up. We tried to help her at home until 8am when we brought her into the hospital.

Friday 1/18 at admission

 At home, Cataleya takes about 70% of her breaths on her own and the vent gives her 10 breaths per minute. Because she was struggling so hard to take her breaths, The doctors had to increase the vent settings so the vent was taking all of Cat's breaths for her. Cataleya didn't like that and needed to be sedated and paralyzed in order to stop fighting the vent.

There were some bumps in the road like high blood pressure that turned into low blood pressure and a secondary bacterial infection. I hate not being able to hold her and I'm concerned about what 2 weeks flat in a bed is going to do to her amazing recent physical progress.

But today they went down a little on her vent and lifted some of her sedation. She blew a kiss and is opening her eyes a little here and there. She alternately cries and smiles. I think she's confused about what's going on.

I think we're in the upswing right now. It's scary how quickly she can get so sick, but it could have been worse.