Moving to the PICU

What a roller coaster! We should've expected it because it seems that's how things go with our kids, but Landon was doing great Wednesday, down to 1 liter of o2 but slept most of the day. Overnight Wednesday his o2 saturation kept dropping and a few times really low (40s and 50s again). Needless to say I had only gotten about 1 hr of sleep in the 2 days because of his monitor going off and needing to stimulate him. Being on the general floor, the nurses have quite a few kids so it's hard to for them to give him so much attention. He wasn't really giving much of a fight when they suctioned his nose and wasn't breathing hard enough to trigger the inhalers for breathing treatment so they consulted with PICU and ended up transferring him Thursday about 8am. His heart rate was really low and o2 sats continued to drop. They put him on Si-PAP, which is like CPAP but interactive so it responded differently depending on his breaths but also gives an extra puff of support every so often. This helped open his lungs so he'd get good breaths. Because of his poor condition when he was admitted to PICU, they wanted to get a PICC line (IV that runs through his veins so they can get more accurate heart rate readings & administer meds quickly) and were thinking he needed to be on the ventilator again if he didn't improve quickly. I think that was enough of a threat because he perked up and was more stable. :) It worried us because we kept having flashbacks to the Human Metapnemonia Virus back in January. He deteriorated so quickly and needed a lot more breathing support. After a few hours of Si-PAP he started waking up, being more alert, keeping his saturation and heart rate up so they were pleased. He was able to transfer back to nasal cannula for about 7 hours then Si-PAP again. He rotated between the two overnight too.

Landon when he first got on Si-PAP

Happy, alert, feeling better! I tried to upload a video but it's not working, but he's been hilarious!

So what in the world happened?? His blood cultures grew Strep A Bacteria. This was really concerning because though it's the same bacteria that gives you strep throat, can be fatal in at risk patients (ie Landon with his COPD and using steroids). The Strep bacteria can spread to your lungs, bloodstream and other organs. With his Chronic Lung Disease it's really easy for lung infections to spread to his bloodstream and from there it can access other parts of his body that the blood flow to. Thankfully they caught it early and started him on antibiotics and he's showing positive signs. They started his feeds last night and he did really well so today he's going to get continuous feeds at a slower rate than usual and hopefully tomorrow be back up to his regular feeding schedule tomorrow! We had a really hard time understanding this yesterday when the doctors were telling us. How in the world can strep throat land you to the ICU!?! I did a little research online and understand a lot better. We'll definitely have to keep a really close eye on Landon for awhile with his chronic illness. He's a lot more susceptible to illnesses and they'll affect him a lot worse that a healthy person.

He's in droplet precautions so we have to put on gowns, gloves and masks (Nich should've had his on!)

Since he's in the PICU and great hands, I was able to get into Ronald McDonald house again and got a great night sleep, took a shower and even checked my email! :) I can't even express how thankful we are for this place! It truly is our home away from home. After living on the general hospital floor, not having a place for my things, taking a shower in the community bathroom, eating dry microwave dinners, I really appreciate unpacking my suitcase and sleeping in a bed. When he was going through all of this on the general floor, I was so incredible exhausted. I was emotional and even cried a few times because of how exhausted and stressed I was. But a good night sleep is so helpful! I have a fresh mind to understand what's going on with Landon and his treatment course. When I checked in, the managers knew me, I went right up to a new room (our 3rd out of the possible 29), unpacked my suitcase and got my room together. I met a couple new families that are going through hard things with their babies and we quickly bonded over the stress and worry of our sick kids. We know this world all to well, and I'm so thankful for the support. It's still hard to see Landon go through this and be away from home and family, but the normalcy and support makes it easier. Praying for a healthier, less crazy new year!!