Cora Jean Hawn

First post: Jan 23, 2019 Latest post: Oct 17, 2022
Cora started to show symptoms of cold last Thursday 1.17.19, we took her to acute care on 1.19.19 and she was diagnosed with RSV - we already suspected this as one of her older brothers had been diagnosed with RSV on 1.15.19. At that time she was stable, and we were given Albuterol nebs to give 4x per day. Sunday 1.16.19 at around 1 am Cora coughed and choked and was gasping for air, and I felt that she had aspirated so I took her to the Jackson ER. While in ER her breathing was fine, her oxygen levels were fine, but she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis as a result of the RSV, we were give saline nebs to add and were to alternate every 2 hours. All day Sunday Cora was only happy if she was being held in an upright position, from about 8 pm on Sunday thru the following morning we only got her to drink about 2 ounces of breast milk. She was too weak to latch, and became to weak to even want to drink from a bottle before long. I called the Sanford Jackson Clinic at 1120 on Monday morning 1.21.19 to see if I could get Cora in for an appointment in the clinic, they had an opening in 20 minutes and we took it, quickly dressed both me and her, and off we went to the clinic. Once at the clinic she was hooked up to the pulse oximeter and when I glanced over at the numbers which read 79% I asked the nurse if they keep babies in Jackson with oxygen levels like that, no was the response. The nurse quickly went to get the doctor who came in. glanced at the oxygen level and then at Cora and stated that we were going to the ER immediately and likely be transferred to Sioux Falls. Once in the ER, her oxygen levels were lower at 76% and she was hooked up to 4 liters of oxygen which quickly brought her oxygen levels back up. The doctor we saw in the clinic, as well as the ER doctor on call were both ordering tests, labs and consulting with pediatrics in Sioux Falls and Worthington. It was determined after those consultations that she would be transferred to Sanford to be placed in the PICU via life flight with a PEDs crew. In the mean time we continued to hold our sweet girl and give her oxygen, and her levels remained good, but unknown to us what that she was in acute respiratory distress. When the flight team arrived and we placed her on the bed for them to assess her it became quickly apparent that she was in much more trouble than we originally thought. They attempted some interventions and ultimately had to intubate her for transport. After 80 minutes of work to stabilize her for transport, she was loaded in the helicopter and we took off for Sioux Falls. 
When we arrived in Sioux Falls we learned about all of the mucus and secretions she had trapped in her lungs. She developed quite a few lung plugs, which would prompt them to put saline into her lungs and to try to loosed and suction out the mucus. When she would get plugs, her oxygen levels would drop, the whole team would come in, she would be bagged, and suctioned until they could clear the plug, and then her oxygen levels would rise. There were a few scary instances of this the first night, but she seemed stable most of day two. In the evening it became apparent that something was going on, her breathing was a little more erratic and inconsistent, they were suctioning her without much luck and she wasn't responding to what had worked well before. None the less, she seemed okay just with lower oxygen levels. Ben and I got a little sleep and were awoken by a team of people in the room. I walked around the corner of the machines and looked at a new doctor that I hadn't seen before, he looked at me with a serious look "are you mom?" yes "she is not well, not well at all" and he went back to work. This doctor was a doctor that was called in specifically to be 1:1 for her during her most critical time, and we believe he saved her life. We were pushed consent forms and more consent forms and they worked to place a central line into her groin. X-rays were taken and it was determined that she now had pneumonia and that her lungs had collapsed. They did not know if they would reopen. For 3 hours we thought we were going to lose our precious baby, it seemed imminent. She was placed on an oscillator, they drew multitudes of labs, started her on aggressive antibiotics, she was septic, she received a blood transfusion and a bag of blood plasma. 
And we waited. 
DAY 3: This morning upon a new x-ray we were told that her lungs were open thanks to the oscillator. Her diagnosis was acute respiratory failure, Pneumonia, Bronchiolitis, and RSV. Later in the morning her secretion cultures came back and indicated she also had two other underlying infections something called h flu and moraxella. They began treating those also. She seems as stable as she can be for now. Her oxygen levels are hovering around 89%, which they are accepting for now, as they do not want to be too aggressive and just let her rest. 


For now we wait. And ask for prayers. 
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