Pneumonia

It's been a traumatic week for us. Tim had bronchitis a couple weeks ago and Alia came down with a cough and fever on Sun night. By Wed, she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia where she would stay for the next two nights hooked up to an IV, oxygen and antibiotics (which gave her diarrhea on top of everything). She was miserable, confused, scared, cranky, and hardly ate or drank anything. Who wouldn't be if all of a sudden you were ripped from the comforts of the only things you knew and made to stay in a strange place, hooked up to machines?

On top of all this, I came down w/ the same thing Tues night (but luckily it didn't progress as badly) and got antibiotics right away. We picked up Alia on Friday early afternoon to think the worse was over...to only see that the Kian started coughing today. So far he has no fever. I am hoping since he is so young, he has some of my immunity which will help him fight the illness so it doesn't progress to what Alia had to endure.

I know getting sick is a part of any parent and child's distress but to be hospitalized for it puts it into another dimension of heartache and frustration. I don't wish what we went through this past week on any parent. However, I am extremely grateful we were only in the hospital for two days. The thought of how parents of kids with long-term diseases cope with this day in and day out did cross my mind in the hospital. I have renewed empathy for them.

Here is Alia, drinking the chocolate milk I got her to bribe her into getting some fluids in other than the IV. Poor thing.