Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Another Scare from Cora

This grandparenting business can be downright scary sometimes! L had emailed me a couple of times this week that Cora was under the weather, cross, and not sleeping well. Since she was cutting another tooth, we weren't too worried--seems like teething and crankiness seem to go together. Today she took her to the doctor, and a chest x-ray showed the little thing had pneumonia! No wonder she was feeling bad! L brought her home and started her on antibiotics, waiting for her to start feeling better. While Cora was napping, she called me and chatted for a while. I even talked to Cora a little after she woke up. L said she was smiling and trying to get the telephone from her mommy. I told L good bye, and called the church to leave a message to add Cora to the prayer list.

Apparently that was a good move, because in the next hour, all heck broke loose! Cora started burning up with fever, shaking all over, and even turning blue. L called her doctor's office and left a message, then had the presence of mind to realize this was more than just a "message"--this demanded immediate medical attention! She called 9-1-1, and a firetruck, two police cars, and an ambulance were at the house in less than three minutes. They started her on oxygen right away, and then took her to the children's hospital in Chattanooga by ambulance. G got there just slightly before the paramedics, and he was truly alarmed by the sight of his blue baby.

Doctors and nurses at the ER got her temperature down to 102 pretty quickly. They did another chest x-ray, which did NOT show pneumonia. They also did blood work, a urinalysis, and a spinal tap to try to find out what was going on. Thank God for answered prayers--the spinal tap didn't show any signs of meningitis or encephalitis. What DID show up was a UTI, which can cause fevers to spike like hers did.

At first the doctors said they wanted to keep her overnight, but as her temperature continued to drop and she turned back into her normal playful self, they decided to send her home with a doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow for a follow-up. L and G called from the house about 8:30 to say they were home, and that Cora was asleep. I tried to get L to go to sleep, too, but she said she was too worried.

I'm going down tomorrow to take care of Cora for a day or so. That's a job I don't mind a bit! I hope she'll be all better by Saturday. One thing about babies, they can get sick very, very quickly, but they can also get better just about as fast. I guess that's because there just isn't enough of them to hold very many germs for very long! How's that for a stupid theory?

Prayers for the family would be appreciated, folks. I imagine we'll have more of these scares to go through before Co grows up. Love to all, and God bless.

2 comments:

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

I'm so glad to know they didn't need to keep her overnight after all. You all are in my prayers.

Love you great big bunches!

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

Hey, how about an update on Cora? Is she doing okay? How are Mommy's and Daddy's nerves? How's Grandma's nerves holding out?