An Amelia Update...

Last night at the doctor, because of her audible wheezing and persistent fever, Amelia endured many tests. A strep test (negative), blood work (all came back normal), RSV (positive), and a chest x-ray (inconclusive). RSV is a virus that affects the lungs, and in fact most people have probably had it. It's troublesome when a child under 2 contracts this virus as they have a more difficult time fighting it off. It does eventually happen though, but like all viruses, it just has to run its' course. As far as the chest x-ray-in order to get a good picture of the lungs, the patient needs to take a deep breath in and hold it. Ummmm, that's not going to happen with a 17 month old baby who is screaming hysterically. Amelia's x-ray was taken when she was exhaling rather than inhaling which didn't give a clear picture. There may still be pneumonia present, but there may not be. I was told last night that Amelia isn't contagious anymore and that I should follow her lead as far as what she was feeling up to.

That brings us to this morning...Amelia woke up fever free and was acting like herself. We all needed to get out of the house and decided to visit Jeff at work for lunch. When we got home, and as I was getting Amelia ready for her nap I took her temperature and the poor thing had a fever again! So, I called to leave a message for the doctor. She returned my call on her day off from her cell phone and we'll touch base again tomorrow. If Amelia still has a fever and audible wheezing we'll start another round of antibiotics. If that's the case, she'll also need to be seen by a pediatric pulmonologist. I was then told that they'll probably want to do a few tests-a chest ct and some sort of scope that goes into her lungs to sample the bacteria-both of these tests would be done under sedation. I'm so worried about Amelia right now. I don't like the thought of her being sedated to undergo testing, but of course we all want to get to the bottom of this so we'll do what we have to do. Strangely enough, Miss Amelia is in a great mood and doesn't seem to be bothered by her wheezing or fever. Please keep us in your thoughts...

I also wanted to thank everyone for the kind words....I've received countless emails, voice mails, blog comments, etc. wishing Amelia well, and it's all helping to keep our spirits up, so THANK YOU!