Prayers for Emma

It has been an adventurous two days in the Hodges house. I will try to make a long story short...but I am not good at that. :)

On Thursday, July 29 I called the Dr. to ask about Emma's cough and rattling in her chest. I was hesitant about calling because we had just seen him last week for her heart check and Emma has not acted sick at all and has never run a fever. She was still smiling and talking and being her normal wonderful self, but after Bradley and I discussed it we decided that a phone call would not hurt. So after calling in, the nurse suggested that we come in for a check-up since the runny nose had been going on for over 2 weeks. So we went in at 4:30 and things just got crazy from there. The doctor asked us to describe her cough and we did the best that we could... of course she did not cough at all while we at the doctors office. He listened to her breathing, checked her oxygen levels, stuck her foot for a blood test and then suggested that he was trying to rule out Whooping Cough! (In the back of my mind - my thoughts were racing and the TV commercial about Whooping cough was playing through my mind. Immediate guilt sank in.) By this time is was 5:20 and he was sending us down the road to the Radiology Clinic for a Chest X-ray. We rushed to get there because we were told they closed at 5:30. We made it- had an eventful check-in because the Dr. sent us without any orders, but finally we got the X-ray. We then had to go back to the doctors office to meet with Dr. Farmer. (I would like to add that at this point it was after 6:00 and Dr. Farmer was now on his own time. He could have turned us over to the on-call doctor, but he chose to stay there for us.) We met with Dr. Farmer and he explained the next step. This involved us going to Big DCH, checking in through the ER, going upstairs to 3rd floor pediatrics, and torture for Emma. The whole time I am thinking- We only came in for a simple cough. What have I done to my child? But then again it is better to be safe than sorry and with the type of cough she has had and the fact that she is only 3 months old it was better to do this now than later. So we arrived on 3rd floor Ped. (after a visit with Aunt Tara in the ER) and were put in a room. We had 2 very wonderful nurses that did 3 nose "swabs" and took 1 blood draw in the arm. Thank goodness Bradley was there to help hold Emma, because I was quite teary eyed at this point. Before we left the hospital Dr. Farmer came to our room to let us know that the chest X-ray showed no signs of pneumonia and did not hint towards whooping cough. There was some inflammation, but nothing too terribly bad. So he said we could go home and he put Emma on an antibiotic for Whooping cough just to be on the safe side and said that he would see us Friday morning to discuss the test results.

So we came home Thursday night around 8:30 from our 4:30 "supposed to be simple" Doctors appointment. We were given instructions to begin her antibiotic that evening and to have Emma sleep in our room (something she has not done since 3 weeks old). We were to monitor her coughing spells and make sure that she did not stop breathing. We were do to all of this and get some sleep. HA! I tried to sleep, but how much sleep can one get when all you can do is think about the "what if's" and just pray that everything is okay. Overall, she had a pretty good night. Only a few coughing spells and she did not stop breathing.

We returned to the doctor Friday morning to receive okay news. The test results that he had gotten back so far indicated a rise in her platelets and something else )I don't remember what it was). This could indicate Whooping Cough, but it also could indicate a viral infection. We are hoping for the viral infection. He wanted to keep Emma on the antibiotic for Whooping cough since she is so young and see her in one week. Later this week we should receive the test results that will give us a better idea about what is causing this cough. If it is indeed whooping cough then Bradley and I will be treated. The doctor said that for now we must consider her contagious and keep her at home. Bradley and I are okay for now, but we will know more when the test results come back. If she does have whooping cough then we will be treated as well.

Please keep Emma in your prayers. I know that God is in control and has the power to heal her and take away this cough and whatever is causing it. Please also pray that God will keep Bradley and myself well and that He will guide our paths and give us clear direction. I will update in a few days after we know more.

Love,
Karla