Lots of Love for a Sick Boy

Cohen has been home from the hospital for a week now and is recovering very well.  He'll be returning to daycare and his normal routine sometime this week.  His doctor is happy with his progress, but has warned us that it will be weeks before he's completely healed and we'll need to be very careful with him for the rest of the winter if he gets another flu or chest cold.

I'm going to back up a bit and tell the whole story.  Cohen was showing signs of being sick on Thursday January 3, but was still well enough to go to daycare.  On Friday January 4 he seemed much the same, so I dropped him off in the morning.  I was home sick with a stomach flu myself that day, so I told the daycare to watch for signs of it and call me if they thought he might be getting sick.  I got a call mid-morning to pick him up.  The two of us had a quiet day together.  Cohen seemed sickest over the weekend, but not with the same flu I had. I was worried about his breathing on Saturday, but didn't think it was bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.  Sunday he seemed just as sick, but his breathing wasn't as bad.  On Monday morning he perked up and seemed much better.  We already had a doctor's appointment booked for Monday morning, so I took him in and was shocked to be sent directly to the ER at the hospital and later that afternoon admitted for the night.  Pneumonia was confirmed that evening when the results of his x-ray came back. One night turned into five and he was such a good little patient the whole time.  While in the hospital he had two x-rays, blood taken twice, a nose swab, a urine test (very tricky with a kid in diapers), countless checks of his vitals (temp, oxygen levels and listening to his chest) and of course treatments with ventalin mist every four hours to help open up his breathing.  On top of all that, he had oxygen tubes taped to his nose for the first 3 days and an IV in his hand for the final two days.  It was a lot for a little guy to go through, but he made it as easy as possible for us and his doctor and nurses.

A great big thank you goes out to all our family and friends who have sent Cohen gifts and cards, come to help us out and sent their love and prayers.  It fills our hearts with joy to see how much our little guy is loved.  Below are some pictures of the edible arrangement and balloon sent by Uncle Matt, Aunt Brenda, Serena, Ayla and Maeve, just one of the many surprises he got.