My little Tater Bug...

Our precious little man is so sick. I can't even begin to think about how close we really came to losing him over the past few days. I have never seen him like this. Even when he was sick before he could always smile. This time he didn't even smile. Last week I had taken him to the doctor where I was told he had coxsackie, a viral infection. I had such a strong feeling that it was something more. We had several kids on antibiotics over the past couple of weeks and I felt that Nate had a bacterial infection also. The strange thing is that his doctor is usually so proactive. She told me he would be really sick with this stuff . He was burning with fever again all night and couldn't keep his oxygen levels up at all... I called the next day to ask if they would please give him some antibiotics. She was going on vacation and didn't call anything in... remember coxsackie is painful. But this was not normal. His temps were close to 104 degrees at times and no matter what we did, it wouldn't break. We barely made it through the weekend. There were times his oxygen dipped really low but again, I was told it was from his viral infection. By Monday I was trying to get him into a doctor. 3 of the 4 pediatricians were on vacation, and the other could see us on Thursday! Tuesday morning we finally forced the issue to get him in and we finally found the doctor that would help. She took us directly to x-ray and sent us right to the ER. I had told her what horrible experiences we had at the ER, she and another doctor told us to go right to the circle where the ambulance parks, walk in those doors and they promised help would be waiting. They must have called and told them not to mess up because we were treated like royalty. That... and it was very apparent that we were dealing with a critically ill infant. They got him stabilized and had life flight on their way. Thayne drove over and I flew with Nate. I was alone for a couple of hours before Thayne got there (love road construction) and in the ER in Salt Lake I was told that we had beat the clock, BARELY. The doctor said that the coxsackie was likely the start of this, but the inflammation caused his lungs enough irritation that a bacterial infection was introduced. The type they think he has is a strep something or other and it's not a good thing. His entire right lobe of the lung is full. On top of that there is fluid around the lining outside of the right lung. But the doctor said that we were literally hours from a catastrophie! They worked all night and all day today to fight the fever. It finally broke around 5pm tonight. It was then decided that a second ultrasound would be done and a chest tube put in. I guess I am overly tired because when they told me it would really hurt him, and that he would be uncomfortable, that I really lost it. I started crying and I couldn't stop. He is my baby. We have fought to keep him alive so many times. Yesterday wasn't a day I would like to live over, except that it it showed the absolute love and devotion the kids have for each other. While in the ER Garrett, Jace, Kimi, Caitlyn, Hyrum were there. Jace just cried and cried. Kimi held him and cried and cried. Kailee sobbed. Everyone stood around with tears in their eyes. The other kids were home saying prayers over and over for him It was really emotional to watch them. Kimi and Kailee went to the airport and sat and watched us come in on the ambulance and then stayed until we flew out. They are so incredible taking care of each other the way they are.

Tonight they put a chest tube in to drain the lining of his lungs. Nate is relaxed right now, thanks to the stuff they gave him to knock him out. He's awake, and doesn't seem in pain. And it's already started to drain. We are praying it drains quickly and he can heal just as quickly as he did before. Everything about this little guy is a miracle. And we are so grateful for him. The word is right now that he will be in here for a the very least a week if not 10 days to 2 weeks.