Zoe in the ICU

Zoe has been in hospital with pneumonia and took a turn for the worse yesterday.  She is now in the ICU on a breathing machine.  They gave her meds to take some of the fluids out of her lungs and that seems to have helped.  Zoe has a bladder infection on top of the pneumonia.  They are not sure if all this extra fluid in the lungs is just pneumonia getting worse or her third spacing into her chest like she has in the past.  Either way, the treatment is the same.

Zoe was actually in a great mood despite not being able to breathe.  She was laughing and rolling around so much that she kept knocking the oxygen mask off and her heart rate kept going high.  They had given her some steroids to help her breathe with the hope that a breathing treatment and the oxygen mask would be enough.  It was not enough and Zoe ended up going to the ICU anyway, but the steroids certainly gave Zoe lots of energy!  The staff all commented that they had never seen a kid so happy to go to the ICU.  Zoe had a male respiratory therapist and a male doctor, so she was laughing and smiling the whole way to the ICU.

The staff in ICU were not sure if Zoe was so active because she was having trouble breathing but we explained that this is just how Zoe is.  When Zoe has been critically ill before, she has not been like this.  She was very sedate.  So the critical care staff had not seen Zoe like this.

We took this to be a good sign.  Once Zoe was asleep and breathing well on the machine, Gavin and I went to get a little sleep.  And we did.  Which will help immensely with the rest of today.

Ailsa is very concerned about Zoe.  Before today the girls had been face timing every day.  Ailsa has been going to daycare and Gavin or I have been picking her up to give her a bit of routine.  She is excited that it is "Yoga Wednesday" at daycare today.

Ailsa is such a empathetic sister.  Here is a conversation I had with her the other night:

Ailsa: "I feel sad because I am worried about Zoe."

Me: "I feel really sad about Zoe being sick too."

Ailsa: "Do you remember when I had all those fevers and I had to get all those tests?"

Me: "Yes, I remember that."

Ailsa: "I don't want Zoe to get tests like that.  I didn't like that."

Me: "Zoe doesn't need a lot of tests right now.  She just needs to get lots of rest and she needs a little help breathing."

Ailsa: "I don't like it when Zoe is sick."

Me: "I know.  I don't like it either."