Walker's First Hospital Stay

The past week has been full of emotions. It all started last Tuesday when I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and barely made it to the bathroom. I'll spare you all the details but I will tell you the night ended with my sweet husband cleaning up after me while I took a bath. It was that bad. I was sick all day Wednesday and Thursday but by Thursday, Walker had become sick as well. When Chris went to get him out of bed he was covered in vomit and diarrhea and we had to get him undressed and straight into the bath tub. We figured that we both had a pesky stomach virus and it would work itself out. By Friday Walker was still not better so we called the pediatrician. We ended up going to the pediatrician Friday and she just told us it was a stomach virus and would have to work itself out. By Monday, Walker was still not better. We ended up spending Monday night at the emergency room. We knew something was wrong. Walker was just not himself. We had to wait in the emergency room for three hours and he just sat in our laps the entire time - so unlike him! We FINALLY got to see the doctor and they did a chest xray, tested him for the flu and pneumonia and both were negative. The doctor was very hesitant to send him home because his keytones in his urine were high. He was a bit dehydrated. She checked his blood sugar and with a promise that we would go back to the pediatrician on Tuesday, she allowed us to go home. Tuesday we spent hours at the pediatrician's office. She tested Walker again for the flu, and the test was negative again. She wanted us to stay at the office and force fluids in Walker until we got a wet diaper. Walker drank four ounces of gatorade but threw it all up. That's when we were sent straight to Children's Hospital. Walker was admitted to Children's Hospital and put straight on an IV to get some fluids. He was dehydrated and lethargic. Seeing Walker hooked up to the IV and so weak was very hard but I knew it was for the best. The doctors did some tests that night but we had to wait until the next morning for the Respiratory Specialists to come in to complete more tests. After a very uncomfortable night, morning finally came, and we finally got an answer. Walker had the flu. I couldn't believe it. He had been tested in the ER and at the pediatrician's office and both tests were negative. The doctors told us that the Rapid Flu tests are not as reliable as the tests they do in the hospital. Walker has the Flu type A, which was referred to as the H1N1 or Swine Flu last year. He is still very sick but I have seen glimpses of his normal self today which has made me very happy. I hope he will be 100% back to his normal self very soon.