RSV and an everyday miracle
Feb 1st. Adam and I left the kids with a sitter to go to a couples wedding shower. Before we left I went to hug Henley and the sight of her stopped me in my tracks. She was pale and did not look like herself. I asked her if she was okay and she said "I'm fine mommy" and raced upstairs. We left the house, but the whole night I knew something wasn't right with her. We came home, the babysitter left. All was silent and peaceful in the house. I went to look in on the kids and found Henley sleeping in a bed full of vomit....awesome. That girl can sleep through anything.
Adam and I ran through our standard "vomit protocol" and one cleaned up while the other bathed Henley and washed her hair.
The next morning she was definitely not well. It was freezing rain outside and there was an ice storm coming in quickly. It was Sunday morning and no doctors offices open. We made a quick decision to pack up the other kids and take them to my mom's house in case we got stuck somewhere. We dropped them off and headed to the ER with Henley. By the time we got to the ER, Henley was coughing uncontrollably. They did blood work and ran test, x-rays of her chest etc. The results came back that she had RSV....no biggie, we have done that before....until she started throwing up blood and it coming from her nose also... THAT we have not done before! It was so awful. She could literally not go more than a couple minutes without an episode. The hospital even had to locate new clothes for Henley because she ruined hers. It was AWFUL!!! After Henley made that major switch, the doctor became more concerned, and she called her neurologist office and spoke with the neuro on call. They were concerned enough about all of the blood that they ordered a CT scan. Because we were only at the Urgent care ER and not downtown and because of the crazy ice storm we waited until Thursday to get the CT and see the doctor in one shot.
They sent us home with the standard "I'm so sorry, but because RSV is a virus, it is just going to have to run its course"....are you kidding me?!?! There is NOTHING you can give us?
We made it home and Henley was so miserable. I didn't know what I was going to do other than clean up sheets and towels all night long. I called one of my friends who knows a lot about Essential oils and asked her if there was anything she knew of to help with RSV or coughing. She said she actually had a oil recipe for RSV specifically. At this point I was so desperate for relief for Henley, I told her I would try anything!! She told me what to do and so I started using this certain blend of very potent essential oils on Henley's chest, back and feet. I repeated this same thing every 30 minutes for about 2 hours while we laid on the floor watching the super bowl....commercials. I did this until she fell asleep. To my surprise, the violent coughing fits subsided pretty significantly and she was able to sleep pretty well through the night.
The next morning she woke up and was probably about 75% better. Adam and I were SHOCKED. I decided to try the oil thing one more day and so I probably put the same combo of oils on about 4-5 more times that day. By Tuesday morning she was not coughing AT ALL....I am 100% serious, it was like an actual miracle happened in my own house before my very eyes. Craziness!! Wednesday you would have never even known what had transpired just days before and by our neurologist appointment on Thursday the doctor was so confused why we were doing a CT scan and not an MRI. (MRI's they have to be sedated for and they will not intubate children who have had any RSV or pneumonia within 6 weeks!!) CT scans are much quicker and they just have to be still for a few seconds.
When we reminded him that she had been diagnosed with RSV on Sunday, he stopped and looked up from his computer and stared at Henley. Then he said "I would have never looked at her and thought she had been diagnosed with RSV 4 days ago!" Praise the Lord is all I have to say about that one!
We went over her CT scan results and he told us that there was no cause for immediate alarm. Apparently they were worried that she had developed fluid on her brain and that was causing her to vomit blood. Because that was clear they said she was okay for the time being. However, because of her CT scan results they wanted to follow up at 6 weeks post RSV with a full brain and spine MRI and a spinal fluid flow study. Based on the CT scan, it was apparent that Henley still has some compression and this might be what is causing the seizures, her newly developed walking issues and increased pain.
That MRI will take place THIS Thursday March 13th. Prayers appreciated. It will take about 2-1/2 to 3 hours for this procedure.
When we reminded him that she had been diagnosed with RSV on Sunday, he stopped and looked up from his computer and stared at Henley. Then he said "I would have never looked at her and thought she had been diagnosed with RSV 4 days ago!" Praise the Lord is all I have to say about that one!
We went over her CT scan results and he told us that there was no cause for immediate alarm. Apparently they were worried that she had developed fluid on her brain and that was causing her to vomit blood. Because that was clear they said she was okay for the time being. However, because of her CT scan results they wanted to follow up at 6 weeks post RSV with a full brain and spine MRI and a spinal fluid flow study. Based on the CT scan, it was apparent that Henley still has some compression and this might be what is causing the seizures, her newly developed walking issues and increased pain.
That MRI will take place THIS Thursday March 13th. Prayers appreciated. It will take about 2-1/2 to 3 hours for this procedure.