So we headed away for Easter, had a lovely first few days at the school house that we go to every year.... Sunday lunch time we packed up the caravan and moved up to the Murray with Mum, Dad and my sister and her DP.... that night MJ and my sister came down with a cold, typical i thought.
MJ being her usual self, solidered on and made the most of the holiday with a runny nose and frequent sneezes, no complaining, just needed to be always ready with a tissue!
Tuesday night she was a bit miserable, but with the clocks changing that weekend and being away we were eating at odd times for her and she was a bit over tired. She had developed a bit of a chest, slightly rattly, nothing bad though.
Just before bed she became clingy and told me that she had a sore tummy, i wasnt sure what was wrong, but as she is not a complainer a had a feel and a prod, nothing seemed to hurt, but i noticed that she was guarding just below her chest... a quiet game of cards and she was back to her normal self.
Wednesday morning, MJ woke at 5am and came into our bed, i noticed that her breathing was rapid and her heart rate was up a bit. Good thing that we were due to leave that day as i would have een asking to go anyway... putting the cold and these symptoms together i figured that she had a chest infection and would need antibiotics... Told DH that i wanted to pack up as soon as we had B/fast and then head off as i was a bit worried.
Mum and Dad helped keep her quiet (as in no running around - not gagging her lol) while DH and DSS packed down the caravan.
By the time that we were leaving, i could hear her struggling and was glad that we were leaving, as soon as we have phone reception i thought, i will make a Dr's appointment for her today.
She remained happy and as soon as we hit the nearest town i called our local GP and made an appointment for the afternoon.
By the time we were in Shepparton we decided to stop for some food... MJ barely ate a thing, was out of breath, but still happy (usually i use this as my gauge) so we packed her back in the car and headed back for home. I decided to sit in the back to give DSS some leg room and a break from wiping her nose! I was also a bit more concerned about her as she was breathing fairly rapidly now, her breathing was audible and she was using her accessory muscles.
DH must have been concerned too as he was driving a bit faster than he normally would when towing
It took us 3 hours all p to get home and as we were getting close i told DH that i wanted to go straight to Emergency with her. We hadnt spoken much, i knew that i couldnt freak him out as he needed to be sensible when driving but i was really concerend when she couldnt talk in sentances... then 20 mins from A and E she became really irritable and kept wanting a cuddle and crying Mumma...
DH dropped me at Emerg and i walked up to the counter, i didnt even know what to say, i just said, my daughter is sick (so unlike me to not have rattled off the problems) she cant breathe properly.
he checked her out then went back to his computer. At this stage i am still thinking chest infection, maybe bronciolitis... Then MJ asked to go to the toilet (bless her) so i spoke to the triage nurse and asked if he wanted me to go back to the waiting room after taking her... he was really blunt with me and said "No i would prefer you didnt"... at this i though, crap it must be bronciolitis, so off we went to the toilet.
By the time we were back the Dr was waiting for me and we walked straight round to Resus (OMG i thought) he was explaining that they were pretty sure that she was having an asthma attack and was asking about family history (None).
The next several hours were awful, As they were really concerned about MJ, there was no time to explain to her about the ventolin spacer and medication, so it was pretty much forced onto her, she HATED IT, she kicked and screamed and begged them to stop (heart breaking). This went on every 20 minutes for an hour and then hourly for 4-5 hours.
She didnt respond well to the ventolin and we were told that we would be staying overnight. They checked her every hour. Once they tried to do it ithout waking her and again it frightened her. I was angry after this, i had managed to get her to use the spacer (we did it together and the Drs and Nurses had to leave for her to be happy with it) and they undid it all... yep great that you want her to sleep, but maybe wake me and ask me what i think! Later when she went for an Xray they dumped the lead on her lap without telling her and that set her off again, poor thing was so exhausted and was just over it all.
6am they moved us to the ward, we had managed to get 2 full hours of sleep over night, MJ dozed a bit more than me, but we both slept on the emerg room trolley.
We finally got out at 4pm that day, she is still needing regular ventolin, but is improving.
VERY VERY SCARY
I honestly feel like the crappest Mum in the world, I am a nurse for F*ck sake and i couldnt recognise an asthma attack in my own daughter!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only that, she suffered with t for hours as i though it was a chest infection
I had no idea that it could be and usually is triggered by a cold or viral infection in children...
Here is a link to the Asthma foundation All about Asthma
Please take 5 minutes to read the information
must have been pretty stressful for you all! I wouldn't have picked it as an asthma attack though if that makes you feel any better! I thought it would have had a faster onset and been more severe much faster than the 3 hours it took you to get home if it was an asthma attack?
Dont feel like the worst mum in the world... I am a nurse too and when it comes to my girls, i cannot for the life of me think like a nurse, just a concerned mum. You did the right thing and thats what counts. Doesnt sound to me much like an asthma attack, so I can understand why you wouldnt have picked it.
Glad you have answers. All of the boys have asthma, 2 have been diagnosed. Ashton hasn't yet. He is a night cougher where the other 2 are illness triggered.
At least you know what it is now hun and can be prepared if she has another attack.
Hon dont feel bad you are a good mum you left when you good at the first instance and got to A&E. The first time anyone has an asthma attack is so scary. The more you panic the worse it feels and tightens in the chest, my heart goes out to you and your little MJ. I defiantely agree colds are a trigger, is she going to be monitored from now on? Also there could have been other triggers she may be allergic to like grass? depends where you went? Can you see you normal GP for monitoring and talk about allergy testing to find out more so it may not happen as fierce? Ventolin is great I use it too only when I have a cold or when I recently moved house (allergic to dust)
Also there is the asthma foundation which they send out info packs they may have some good info for kids.
SJ. How scary for you! And don't be hard on yourself. There are always situations in our profession where we go "Damn that was obvious! Why didn't I pick it up earlier?!"... and you know why? Because hindsight is wonderful. And with the history you described, I would have made a similar diagnosis. And I'm sure that had you prattled off that exact history to the triage nurse, they would have made the same conclusion. Do NOT feel bad. Besides, the reason we see Dr's and Nurses is because they have no EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT to the situation so look at it more objectively. When emotion is involved, we tend to overlook things or miss steps. I repeat, you have no reason to feel bad! You did all the right things, you were comforting her, you were watching and monitoring her, you were keeping an eye on it. She was safe at all times.
Re: the treatment you and poor MJ received over night - GGGGGRRRRR you have to wonder about some people, don't you? I always want to ask them, "would you behave differently if this was YOUR mother, father, brother, sister, child?"
Please don't feel bad, when you haven't seen it before you don't know what is happeneing and sometimes we don't realise how serious the condition could be.
The illness could have definitely brought it on
We had taken DD to ER on a couple of occassions with breathing issues, but they never left the sats monitor on long enough to actually realise that she was actually in trouble. The third time we went in I thought I was overreacting , she had chest recessions and a tracheal tug, and I even said to DH and DD, it's ok, we will be home in a couple of hours it's nothing major.
When the triage nurse saw us she said to sit down and a nurse would get her OB's then we would go through to ER, when it is her turn, no sooner had I sat down with her, a nurse came out took us straight through to resus we had a Dr, Pead and a couple of Nurses and the starting pumping the venotlin in, her saturations were in the low 80's and when it didn't work she was put straight onto O2, and they said she was being admitted and we would be home for a day or two. 5 days later we went home with a diagnosis on Pneumonits and Chronic mild asthma. After further testing it was revealed she actually had a mroe serious lung condition from either her birth or one of the respitatory infections she received earlier that year. But you can imagine how horrible I felt, and I would hate to think what would have happened if we didn't take her in when we did
I am glad that you have a diagnosis, a plan and you now know what to look for. Take care and you did an awesome job xxoo
Don't beat yourself up too hard. It's often hard to switch out of "mum" mode and into "nurse" mode - when you're trying to think like both, it's easy to miss obvious things, although given her age, and the lack of a family history, asthma probably wouldn't be the most obvious diagnosis.
One thing though - don't beat the children's nurses up too hard about trying to keep your little one asleep when they did the spacer. It is possible to give a spacer to a sleeping child without waking them (I've done it) - they were probably just trying really hard to get you both a bit of uninterrupted sleep.
Hugs to you and MJ, that must have been really scary, I had/have asthma and had it from when i was young!! My mum is also a nurse and i think when its your own, your not a nurse any more your a mum, so dont beat yourself up about that. I hope she is ok now. For me, it was very manageable, although quite bad at times, as long as i took my meds i was fine! Big hugs to you.
How terrifying for you all - praying she is on the mend and is a bit more comfortable in hospital.
On not picking it being an asthma attack because you're a nurse it is completely different when we don't have that uniform on. My mind always goes completely blank and I automatically kick into mummy mode - these are our kids so we think like mums not nurses. Please don't be too hard on yourself as you did the right thing. You watched her closely and then took her straight to the emergency room. Good on you!!!
Thanks guys for all your replies...
I didnt really expect so much support, i was posting more to make everyone a little bit more away, i am not sure if i had read the signs i still would have put everything together, but i honestly had no idea that it was so commonly triggered by a cold/virus.
Mischa - the Dr's do think that there was any allergy trigger judging by the way that she presented, i did query this one too, also the fact that we had a camp fire for several days so when we were cooking she was exposed to that, but they thought that it would be an unlikely trigger.
Michael - thanks for your comments I agree that a spacer can be given when asleep, i actually have done it since to MJ, i have just re-read, it was obs and sats they were trying to do when she was asleep, then also shove on nasal prongs (which she had not had previously) when she was still sleeping. Most childrens nurses are exceptional and are really good at reading kids and how they will respond... but making that call on your first meeting with the child is not right. Over all though i could not fault the care that we received, it was fantastic apart from that one incident, but over the 30 hours + that we were in there that one incident pales in relation to all the other staff
Ahhh SJ, my son gets bronchiolitis a far bit, and they have us on ventalin for it. It took ages for me to get him to take the spacer - we found he turned around and enjoyed it when he got the "power" so to speak by pressing down the puffer and/or holding the spacer. For him, having it forced on him was the worst. Now he's a little trooper - why not try getting your DS to press down the ventalin with you, so she knows what's happening?
It's really scary, and it doesn't sound like asthma - but then again my asthma is just coughing that doesn't stop. Good luck, and i'm glad she doesn't have a virus.
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must have been pretty stressful for you all! I wouldn't have picked it as an asthma attack though if that makes you feel any better! I thought it would have had a faster onset and been more severe much faster than the 3 hours it took you to get home if it was an asthma attack?
Poor darling.
you have to wonder about some people, don't you? I always want to ask them, "would you behave differently if this was YOUR mother, father, brother, sister, child?"
, she had chest recessions and a tracheal tug, and I even said to DH and DD, it's ok, we will be home in a couple of hours it's nothing major.
I agree that a spacer can be given when asleep, i actually have done it since to MJ, i have just re-read, it was obs and sats they were trying to do when she was asleep, then also shove on nasal prongs (which she had not had previously) when she was still sleeping. Most childrens nurses are exceptional and are really good at reading kids and how they will respond... but making that call on your first meeting with the child is not right. Over all though i could not fault the care that we received, it was fantastic apart from that one incident, but over the 30 hours + that we were in there that one incident pales in relation to all the other staff
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