Off to ER

John and I took Ryan to Dr B this morning as he really wasn't improving, was still running a low grade fever, and was still very very lethargic. It was the lethargy that was scaring me so much. He had also developed a cough, and was wheezing when he was breathing. Dr B was very concerned with the "pulling" his ribs were doing, as he was breathing his lungs were working so hard that the force was pulling the skin into the groves between his ribs. After a nebulizer treatment in the office didn't change his lung sounds, or waken Ryan up for even a second he thought we should head to the hospital. We decided to go to Hackensack as it has a really great Children's hospital and PICU there.

In the ER they gave him another treatment with the nebulizer and checked his O2 saturation's which were 80%, normal is 95+ and they worry lower than 92 so his were very low. We had a reason for all the sleeping and it wasn't just "oh he has a fever" "hes sleeping because hes sick" "oh the Tylenol makes them sleep" His body was shutting down all nonessentials and sending whatever O2 he was taking it to his brain and lungs to keep him alive. Its truly amazing how our bodies work! His chest xray was "impressive" ! Ive learnt that this is not such a great thing in doctor speak. The virus that Ryan had caught was attacking and damaging his lungs. The scariest thing was that with a virus the doctors can only perform supportive care, ie keep him hydrated and supplement the O2, it was up to Ryan how his body fought the virus. They moved him to the PICU and started him on a nasal O2 flow which was pressurized so to help inflate the areas of his lungs that were collapsing.

Picture is Ryan in the ER before moving to the PICU