RSV

"Your child has RSV."

Those are the words every preemie parent fears, and nothing prepares you for the gut-punch felt when you hear it. RSV can be potentially fatal for a preemie, especially a micro-preemie. Though, as another micro-parent recently wrote when her daughter was diagnosed with RSV....this is it. This is what we spend 5-6 months in isolation trying to avoid. There is no more wondering what life would be like, what symptoms she would have, what we would need to do should Ruthie somehow contract RSV. It's done - she has it. Now we can deal with it and move forward, and prayerfully, we'll never see this diagnosis again. 

Yesterday started out rough. Ruthie had had a cough for a couple of days, accompanied with an almost-constant fever, ranging from 99-102 at the highest. Tylenol & Motrin were barely keeping it at bay. Her cough had been getting wetter and, to me, deeper. And snot. Oh.my.gracious, the SNOT. I was wiping her nose literally every 20 seconds. While she was mostly content to play, she needed frequent "rest" breaks and just wasn't her usual self.

I called our pediatrician's office only to find out they weren't opening their Saturday "emergency" office until 10, due to the weather. The ped we saw was not our usual one, though we have seen him a few times when ours wasn't there. He checked her out and didn't seem too concerned. I specifically asked about testing her for RSV, but he said it wasn't necessary because it didn't change the treatment plan. I understand that, but now that I've had time to dwell on it, it makes me angry. We could have KNOWN already, could have avoided the germs and frustrations of a 9-hour emergency room visit.

So we went home with instructions to keep an eye on her and let them know if anything worsened. Last night, she seemed worse. She was vomiting violently and hadn't kept anything down in over 24 hours. She was retching so hard and her cough was awful. I debated for a few minutes, but decided on taking her to the emergency room.

Long story short, we waited almost four hours to be seen, regardless of the fact that people who had arrived ten minutes ago were being taken back, children who seemingly felt fine as they ran around making messes and noise. I was furious and by the end of our waiting room stay, they were made aware of our unhappiness. When we were finally taken back to triage, they ordered a chest x-ray, bloodwork, urinalysis, and an RSV test. All of her bloodwork, x-ray, and urinalysis checked out fine, but the RSV test did not. She tested positive and we finally had an answer. 

I am very, very thankful for these monthly Synagis shots that Ruthie receives - so far they are doing their job in keeping the RSV less-threatening. We caught it early. She has been super clingy today and won't let me out of her sight. I understand - all the testing last night was very traumatic for her, and she hadn't had any sleep since her nap. She slept for 5 hours this morning/afternoon before I reluctantly woke her, fearing she wouldn't sleep tonight. But as I write, it's 6:33 and she has had her bath and been passed out for almost half an hour. I hope she sleeps well, both for her sake and mine - I haven't slept since Friday. :)

A sick little girl. :(