My 14 year old daughter has pneumonia. It began 8 days ago with high (104-105) temperature and massive headache. She’s been in bed since then except for doctor and ER visits. We spent 3 nights in the ER and had to call 911 on Saturday as her fever spiked again along with her pulse, blood pressure, and respiratory rate. She was not alert or responding well and hyperventilating.
She is on antibiotics and regular doses of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Finally, yesterday, her temps returned to normal for a while and have fluctuated only up to 102 since. That’s a praise!
She hasn’t eaten much at all since last Monday (8 days), but ever since Thursday’s ER trip where she had IV antibiotic treatment and IV fluids, we’ve kept dehydration at bay. She also hasn’t had a full night’s sleep since last Sunday.
The biggest issue at the moment is the pneumonia has triggered her long dormant cough variant asthma. This is spasmodic, non-stop coughing to the point of vomiting. I am treating it now with albuterol in the nebulizer which I still have for her younger brother who has the same type of asthma. It has helped significantly and she is now resting without coughing for the last couple of hours. Only 1 little spell in that time. Last night she coughed for 4.5-5 hours non-stop. I have tried everything to help it, but decided to ask the doc. about using the asthma meds or saline in the nebulizer help. We return to the pediatrician for a follow-up tomorrow. Not sure when the follow-up chest x-rays will be.
Please pray that we are able to keep the fever down, that she (and I) can rest the majority of the night (it’s 11:55 now), that the cough can be controlled so she can rest, and that the infection clears her lungs. Pray also for God’s grace and wisdom for our family right now.
My son had pneumonia when he was 6 and it was terrible. He has asthma as well and spent almost a week in the hospital. I know you must be exhausted and so worried about your daughter. I will be praying for healing, peace, wisdom and rest for all of you.
I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope things are looking better today. It sounds terribly scary. My 9yo was in the hospital for 3 nights last month with asthma but it was never this scary sounding. It sounds like she needs to be admitted to the hospital. Please update us when you are able.
Thank you for praying! She had an improved night thanks to the asthma meds and was able to sleep for 1-2 hours at a time between alternating asthma meds and saline. Sleep had become the most important need, I think. The spasmodic coughing is slowly lessening, too, since starting the asthma med. DD outgrew her asthma about 8 years ago, but it seems this illness brought it back. Today, she is actually smiling a bit and ate a tiny bit. Talking brings on coughing, so she isn’t doing that, too much, but today feels like a real corner has been turned thanks to an improvement in sleep. We head to the dr. for a follow-up in an hour. Thank you, so much for praying.
Dr visit was encouraging. No more crackles! We’re on the right track and doc agrees we need around the clock asthma treatment right now to get it under control. It may be a few weeks before we have uninterrupted sleep, but I’m so thankful for a couple of hours here and there!
@Janell – thank you, I picked up some of the tea today. Dd prefers normally coffee to hot tea, but is very willing to do anything she can to hasten recovery!
We will be praying for your daughter and her recovery. I will also be praying for you to stay strong and healthy, hard to help our sick kids when we get sick too.
DD is struggling again tonight. For some reason her fever went back to 104. I’ve got it back down under 103, but it’s worrisome. And she can’t sleep due to coughing. Ladies, I sincerely appreciate the support and prayer from each of you. Thank you for continuing to life my dd before the Lord.