In Which They Figure Out What The Heck Is Going On With Connor

So we have some answers!

Over the past few days they've done many, many tests on Connor to see if they can figure out what's going on.  One of the things they did was take a nasal swab to run a bunch of rapid viral tests.

Sure enough, they found something. Connor came up positive for parainfluenza.

Parainfluenza is not the flu and there's no immunization or effective antibiotic for it; it's the family of viruses that cause the common cold with fever, a good portion of cases of croup, and a number of cases of bronchiolitus or pneumonia too.  So far Connor's is sticking to the upper part of his respiratory system, which is a good thing.  He's developed a pretty good cough, though, and spent most of the day today sleeping.  There's really not a whole lot the hospital can do other than to keep him hydrated, comfortable and seizure free.

The little guy is still desatting while asleep (he hovers in the high 80's without oxygen) so until that resolves and they think they can take him off of the Ativan every eight hours I'm pretty sure we'll be sticking around the hospital.  Jeremy's spending the night there tonight and I've come back to the house; we'll switch off tomorrow night.  Hopefully Connor will be able to get over the worst of his illness soon and we'll be able to bring him home!

Jeremy actually gave me the latest update on Connor by phone while I was on my way back home from roller derby bootcamp.  Yes, I went to roller derby bootcamp while my son was in the hospital.  I seriously needed to get a good workout in, because after two days of sitting in my living room watching my kid breathe, and then another full two days of sitting in a hospital room watching my kid attempt to breathe, I was just a wee bit tense. 

It took me a little while to relax once I was up on skates (and believe me, if you are really tense on roller skates you fall down a lot) but once I got into it and was able to take my mind off the little guy for a while I felt much better and actually managed to stay on my feet.  I think that after four years of doing these sorts of crazy adrenaline rushes I've learned what my limits are and when I need to take a break from being Mom, and tonight I was pretty close to that limit.  I'll get a good night's sleep tonight, and then tomorrow I'll be able to go back to the hospital refreshed to relieve Jeremy so he can get his much-needed break.

So anyway, thanks to everybody for your continued prayers and thoughts of support; keep your fingers crossed for us that Connor will be able to hold his own soon!

~Jess