Let's Start at the Very Beginning

As the song says, that's a very good place to start.
Many of you may remember the saga that was our trip to Houston a couple of weeks ago. Elena came down with bronchitis while we were there and I made comments about how one or both of our kids is always sick when we travel- remember?
Well, this time Elena has surpassed all expectations and, true to form, has brought much traveling drama to our lives. Let me start at the very beginning...
We were scheduled to make a trip to Dallas from last Tuesday (Dec 30) to Saturday(Jan 3). Adaryll's dad had gotten CottonBowl tickets for Adaryll and Elias, and we planned to surprise Elias with the tickets Friday morning. We would spend the week visiting with family and catching up with friends who live in the area. We had the car completely loaded Tuesday morning and were just waiting for the kids to get up to get on the road. (note: Elena had just completed her 7-day antibiotic from the Houston drama 2 days before this) When I got Elena out of bed, I immediately noticed her fever and she was wheezing. We decided to run by the pediatrician on our way out of town thinking she might need a few more days on meds. What we thought would take a few minutes took several hours. They ended up doing a breathing treatment there, ordering a chest xray, and then making us wait to leave town until the xray was read by a radiologist. It turned out that they could see infection, but that it didn't look too awfully bad. So, with 2 different kinds of breathing treatments to give every 4 hours, a new antibiotic, and lots of tylenol, we hit the road to Dallas. We got to Adaryll's dad's house around 6:30 that night. I told Adaryll that I felt like God was playing some sort of mean joke on me with her sick AGAIN while we were traveling. We had a good laugh about how God really is stretching me to trust in Him and not think that I can possibly have things in my control as I'd like to think.
So we got in and started breathing treatments every 4 hours (even during the night). She seemed to really be struggling Wednesday, so I stayed at the house with her while Adaryll, Elias, and Papa-G went running around town. Wednesday night she started the thing she was doing in Houston- she would cough so hard that she would gag herself on the phlegm and then throw up. We went to urgent care Thursday morning and they did another xray. They said she had pneumonia, switched her antibiotic, and gave her shots of antibiotics and steriod. They said she should improve within 8 hours or we should go to the E.R. We ended up in the Dallas Children's E.R. (at a brand new satelite campus in Plano) Thursday evening where they tried 3 back-to-back breathing treatments and then an epi breathing treatment. None of that worked and her pulse-oxygen was in the mid-upper 80's (it should be 100 if you are healthy and anything below 92 warrants putting on oxygen). So they started her on oxygen and put in an IV (that is a story in itself for another day). They didn't have a single bed open inpatient, so we were offered an ambulance ride downtown or a room in the E.R. overnight. We stayed in Plano because it is so close to Adaryll's dad's house. Needless to day, it was an awful night. Elena wanted me right by her every time she coughed, so I slept (not really) on a gurney by her side, and Adaryll slept in a recliner that didn't quite go all the way back flat. Friday morning we got a room upstairs and the boys went to the CottonBowl to watch Tech lose. :(
Honestly, from there everything is kind-of a blur. We have tried many times to wean her off oxygen and she just plummets when she goes to sleep. We have even had her totally off oxygen awake with her sustaining a pulse-ox of 92-93, only to see her drop to 84 at naptime. She has had numerous breathing treatments, therapy sessions (percussion beating on her back, blowing bubbles to make her cough, etc.) and a ridiculous amount of steroid. Her xray Friday confirmed that the infection is viral (as it affects the entirety of both lungs as opposed to one localized area). They could also see adelectasis- a condition where the lungs are partially deflated due to the stickiness inside the little tiny spongy parts. She has had tubes with vacuum suction stuck up her nose. And she has been SUCH a trooper!!! I think every nurse who has cared for her has left saying that she is their all-time favorite patient. She takes her meds easily, lifts her shirt anytime she sees a stethoscope, and hasn't yet tried to pull on her oxygen cannula, her IV, or her pulse-ox monitor. Amazing.
It is totally indefinite how long it will take her body to heal enough to go home, so we have requested that we be transferred to the children's hospital in Austin. At least there we can be amonst friends and Adaryll can bring me clean clothes! We had a careflight scheduled for 7pm tonight and the boys went on home this morning. Unfortunately, Dallas is having ice right now so our flight has been delayed until midnight. I am REALLY hoping they just postpone until morning instead. But we will take whatever we can get.
She is on a liter of oxygen now (which I think means 1 liter (think half of a 2-liter of coke) is being blown through her nose every minute), and her pulse-ox right now is at 92 sleeping. I am guessing they will up her enough to get her closer to 95 for transporting her.
I will try to be better about updating her condition. I kept feeling like I needed to blog, but it was all so emotionally overwhelming. I just didn't have the energy to rehash it all from the beginning. Sleep has been very sparse for me and I have not been out of this room much at all. Except I did leave yesterday to take Elias to urgent care while Adaryll sat with Elena. Elias had finished a 15 day antibiotic for a sinus infection and- guess what? He has an ear infection. Hey- at least they are consistent right?