Sick as dogs

The first of the year was crazy for us all. Just as I started clinical rotations (back to back 12 hour shifts) and Brian was flexing his schedule to accomodate school and day care pick ups and drop offs, major illness struck the Ickler house. Maren got croup, full with fevers of 104, terrible stridor and difficulty breathing which led to her being put on steroids to open her airways. Then after her fever had broken for a few days it came back. I listened to her lungs with my stethoscope and heard crackles, which means pneumonia. Brian took her to the doc and she did indeed have pneumonia. Brian slept next to her every night and she actually recovered pretty quickly after being put on antibiotics. We got the all clear from the doc to take a weekend trip to the mountains.
Then, in the mountains, Addi came down with croup (I didn't know kids her age could get it, but apparently they can get croup until about 10 yrs). She spiked a fever of 105.4 and started to say things that didn't make any sense. We called the doc for instructions and headed home from the mountains. Addi quickly developed pneumonia as well -- with a double ear infection to top it all off. It turns out her body didn't like the antibiotics they gave her. After 48 hrs on the antibiotics she was getting worse, the drugs were having no therapeutic effect, and they were causing her some vicious diarrhea and vomiting. This coupled with Addi's unwillingness to drink or eat anything while she is sick (we literally had to force her to drink) caused serious dehydration. Her doctor had to give her 2 very painful shots of antibiotics in her legs to combat the infections (she couldn't walk to the car afterwards), and told us that if we couldn't get her more hydrated by the next day she would have to go to the hospital for IV fluids. We pulled out all the stops and got her all of her favorite naughty foods in hopes of persuading her to eat or drink (milkshakes, Anthony's pizza, popsicles, you name it).

The next day her pneumonia and ear infections hadn't gotten any worse, and she was a bit more hydrated, so we avoided a trip to the hospital. The doc couldn't hear Addi's lung sounds because she was wheezing pretty badly, so she was sent home with a nebulizer machine. After that, she improved steadily and finally got to go back to school. We were so worried about her -- I slept next to her every night and would just watch to make sure she was breathing. Addi never gets that sick, so it was a scary experience for everyone. Luckily she recovered quickly, and was soon back to her adorable fun loving self!