My Sweet Baby Boy

Jake has now been running a fever for 12 days. We took him to the doctor twice last week. They assured us (after two rounds of blood work, urine tests, etc.) that it was just a viral infection and would go away on it's own. The second time we took him, they discovered he also had an ear infection and a yucky throat. He put him on antibiotics. Still running fever. I decided sometime Monday that he has pneumonia. Of course doctor's don't work on holidays so it had to wait until today. I called this morning and the nurse told me AGAIN that it's just a viral infection and has to run it's course. I told her I thought it was pneumonia and that I was incredibly concerned about the length of time he's been running fever and how high it's been. "There's nothing you can do except wait it out but I'll ask the doctor about it and call you back." The doctor told us to come back in for MORE blood work. Once we got there, he checked his ears and throat again - all clear - and listened to his chest. Sounds good. I assured him it was pneumonia. WHY DON'T THEY JUST LISTEN TO ME??????? After a great deal of prodding on my part, they sent Jake upstairs for x-rays. As soon as we got them back I opened them up and put them up to the light. A huge spot on his left lung nearly as large as my hand. We got back down to the doctor's office and as soon as he walked in - PNEUMONIA. Imagine that. Jake's Mommy knowing what's wrong with him. Doctors drive me insane. Nurses drive me insane. I just wish that they would listen to me when I tell them what's wrong with my child. Just because I didn't go to medical school doesn't mean I don't have an understanding of the human body and how it works. Regardless, I know my son's body better than anyone else on this planet. I probably know his body better than my own.

Anyway, my baby boy has pneumonia. He gave him a strong antibiotic shot and put him on stronger twice daily antibiotics today. He also put him on breathing treatments. My poor angel has to use a nebulizer four times a day. (A great big thank you to Aunt Cerra for bringing up her extra nebulizer for Jake to use.) He's also on an expectorant. If his fever doesn't drop continuously in the next 48 hours, he's going to admit him to the hospital for 3 to 5 days for IV antibiotics. Jake has never been this sick before. It's killing me and Mike. We can't stand to see him like this. He's lost 5 pounds. In a kid that weighs 37 pounds, that's a lot. Did I mention he has diarrhea? This may be more information than you really want to know, but it's so horrible. He's been potty trained for an entire year, but he's been through 3 or 4 pairs of underwear a day for the last week because it's so terrible. On the way to Texarkana to the doctor today, we had to stop at Fred's in Stamps to buy pull-ups. We had to stop twice for accidents just on the way to the doctor. It's absolutely breaking his heart that he can't wear underwear. He takes it as meaning he's not a "big boy" anymore. I feel so sorry for him. He's so incredibly sick.

On top of all of this, today is the 5 year anniversary of my Mama's death. Pneumonia was one of her causes of death. This is NOT a good day.

Please pray pray pray for my sugarbear.