The Hospital

While I was at training in Oklahoma City, Laura was at home in Utah enjoying family and friends. We finally met up on the 27th after a full day flying for me. It was such a great thing to be able to hang out with Laura and Sam again. To my surprise, he had grown a bit, and was smiling. Missing his first smile was a bummer, but I am sure it won't be the last thing I miss. It was great to see everyone, we were so happy to be there! Unfortunately, things went south starting on Monday the 30th.

Sam had seemed quite congested, so we decided it might be best to get him to a doctor just to check him out. Our insurance company told us the best course of action would be to get him to an emergency room, that way we would have to pay nothing out of pocket. So began our first trip to Primary Children's Medical Center. The visit went as well as could be expected. He was diagnosed with a virus, something related to (but not) RSV. He seemed fine, so we were discharged and went home. Obviously taking care of Sam became our primary concern, so we decided not to leave the house. That was a huge disappointment, as I didn't get to see some friends or anyone in Orem. But for Sam, it was worth it.

Things seemed generally OK until Thursday afternoon. Sam appeared to be fine, but he began vomiting his milk due to all of the muck in his throat. So began our second trip to PCMC. This time, it didn't go so well. We were told the same information as before, but this time the virus was at its peak and his little body couldn't keep up with it. So we were admitted Thursday night for an unknown duration. Sam was never fussy and he never cried until they started suctioning him. What a horrible experience, one that we hope to never have again! The other memory we will never forget is seeing Sam hooked up to an O2 tube, an O2 monitor, and 3 vital signs monitors. It was horrible trying to hold him with all of those wires connected to him. I just wanted to pull them all off and make him better. What a hopeless feeling, seeing him laying there. I can usually keep my emotions in check, but both Laura and I were pretty upset.

We both stayed with Sam until early Friday morning, when Laura sent me home to rest, there was only one small bed. All day Friday we rotated holding him and comforting him. One of us would go get food, then the other. We both left when they would suction him, it was too rough to see him screaming at the top of his lungs. He did show signs of improvement, however, and on Friday they were able to pull him off O2. One step closer to going home. We had family pictures on Saturday that we were hoping beyond all hope that we would be able to make.

Saturday came, and things were continuing to look up. Sam seemed much improved, he was eating well and even his congestion seemed to abate some. We got the best news at 11:00 when the doctor informed us we would be discharged. It was like parole. We immediately unhooked Sam and got ready to go, we couldn't get out of there fast enough. Please don't misunderstand, we were extremely grateful for the professional doctors and nurses that cared for us, they were truly the best. But all things considered, we would rather not have had the pleasure of meeting them. We made it home in time for a quick family picture, which was one of the highlights of the trip as they are few and very far between in the Stromberg house. Plus we wanted to show Sam off!