A Big Thank You

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4 comments

Written on November 23rd, 2009 by Erik Reagan

Last Sunday, the 15th, my wife and I took our 16-month old to the emergency room. Being me, I kept a lot of people updated via Twitter and Facebook. For those of you who don't know, I actually keep my Twitter and Facebook interactions fairly separated. I use Twitter for my nerdy/businessy chatter and Facebook for my personal and “hey we went to school together” chatter. Sometimes my message overlaps both realms so I simply use selective twitter status and send the message to twitter.

Over the past week I received a lot of support and kind words from family, friends and colleagues from around the world.

What Went Down

On Friday the 6th my wife and I got word that Brady's cousin had contracted RSV. This was a red flag for us because both Brady and her cousin went to the same day care and they like to play with one another. We started to keep our eye on Brady and noticed she was getting sick. That Sunday we took her to our Pediatrician where she tested negative for RSV and flu but she did have an ear infection. Everything was fine, we've dealt with those before so we were given an antibiotic and sent on our way. She continued to get worse slowly so we took her back that Wednesday, the 11th.

At that visit Brady tested positive for RSV. Oh boy. Because of her being born so prematurely we have always been concerned about RSV. Now we were going to see what it was all about. We were given some instructions and sent home to take care of her. Over the course of the next four days we saw no improvement. The albuterol breathing treatments were making minimal impact for a very short amount of time. We were beginning to get more and more concerned. Sunday evening, the 15th, we took Brady in to the emergency room. She had a chest x-ray done which revealed pneumonia in both lungs.

The Long Week Begins

We were obviously very thankful that we went to the ER rather than waiting another day. We have a lot of family around us so we were not short on company during our time in the hospital. Brady has always been a pretty happy baby even when she's sick. This week was particularly hard for her, however, because she's starting to get really good at walking. Then all of a sudden she has an IV in her foot and has to stay in a bed day after day. This made for a cranky and restless 16-month-old, which made for a tired and frustrated Mommy and Daddy. Thankfully the hospital brought some toys down from the play room and she was able to enjoy herself that way. The room also had a DVD player in it so we brought The Little Mermaid which Brady loves to watch.

Now for the Thank You

The most meaningful part of the week, for me, came in the form of so many messages from my friends and family. I won't mention all of the awesome friends who left me wonderful messages on Facebook because that site is not public for the most part. I can mention, however, all of the amazing people who I received messages from on Twitter (public). A huge "thank you" to everyone who sent me a kind word regarding our hospital stay:

There may have been a few more people that I missed. If so, sorry! Thank you to all of my friend and family who called emailed and tweeted their thoughts, prayers and love to my family. Half of you I've never even met in person. It's such a blessing to be a part of so many wonderful communities. Thank you! God Bless

Comments

Hey Erik, glad to hear Brady is doing better. I have 3 boys and have made numerous trips to the ER for them and it is never an easy thing. Why didn’t they tell us being a parent was going to be this hard? ;-) Anyway, rest up. I know it was a long stay in the Hospital.

Marcus Neto on Nov 23rd, 2009 at 10:40 am

I’m glad you all are out of the hospital and Brady is feeling better! After reading the details, its crazy how similar of a situation my wife and I were in the hospital with our little boy a few months ago. He just started walking, got the seasonal flu, they quarantined us for 4 days (it was during the last swine flu scare), IV in his foot… The best day of my life was leaving that hospital!

Philip Joyner on Nov 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 am