Written on Tues 2/4/14
Kelsie has her first bad respiratory infection. If started last Thursday (5 days ago) and has literally beat us up. Poor Kelsie has coughed so violently, it is scary!
The cough started on Thursday afternoon and the unusual and harsh sound of it gave me the sinking feeling that it was going to be something bad. And sure enough, it has been terrible! Thursday night she spiked a fever of 102 and by morning after the ibuprofen wore off, it was 104.1. She was coughing to the point of gagging, and breathing faster. I took her to the doctor and they did a viral respiratory panel, a chest X-ray, a CBC and blood culture, an antibiotic shot and also ordered oral antibiotics. The chest X-ray and CBC later showed it looked more viral so we held off on the oral antibiotics.
We went back in yesterday and found out the viral panel was positive for RSV. That virus can be very serious in babies but in older kids and adults, it usually just looks like a cold. However, it can still hit younger kids in the lower respiratory tract and cause more problems breathing, which has been the case with Kelsie. Because she has CF, we have to worry more about the potential of developing a bacterial infection in her lungs. The extra mucous created by the virus will be a breeding ground for bacteria. And the nature of the disease is such that her mucous is going to be stickier and more difficult to clear, making it easier for bacteria to settle in. Hence, the cause of my increased worry!
So this is kind of a summary to catch you up on how she has been since this all started. Friday night she slept 12.5 hours. Still coughed some and had a fever of 104 but she slept most of the night. The next 3 nights, however, have been a different story! She coughs as soon as she lays down and cannot get more than 10-15 minutes of sleep without waking up coughing. And her cough isn't something she can just sleep through. It has been so forceful and gagging that she has to sit up and almost throws up. She is crying each time, saying it hurts and she needs to throw up. And she is clearly just so exhausted from all the energy if takes to cough, on top of not getting any rest for the past few days. The best way I have found for her to sleep is on me. Which is what she is doing now. (Thank God for this little iPhone so I can still feel semi-productive.)
I just feel so helpless at night. I hold her upright as long as she will let me and that helps until her next coughing spell. But last night, I don't think I slept at all until 5:30 this morning. Every time I would get her to sleep and make it back to my room, she would wake up again! She finally got a little rest this morning between 8-10am and is trying to take a nap on my chest now. She has already had 2 bad coughing spells in the past hour and a half but resting better than yesterday at nap so that's good. She has still had fever too (day 5 now). Her pulmonologist called in an oral antibiotic because she is worried that this is developing into something bacterial and likely inevitable that she will need antibiotics.
So we are starting that and praying for a better night tonight!! And a quick recovery!! Her doctor did warn that it may take her a while to get over this cough. 😥 It is just sucking all the strength out of her! It can't go on at this level much longer! At least I hope not!
