Kennedy Quarantined

Last night, we drove down to Hot Springs, and we made it before the little ice storm hit. Luckily, it melted quickly. For the past day or two, I noticed that Kennedy was starting to come down with another cold. We set up a doctor's appointment with a local pediatrician in Hot Springs. With our luck, Kennedy would become really sick on Christmas day, and we would not be able to get her in to see a doctor. So, we wanted to be prepared. Little did we know what we had in store for the rest of the week. At the doctor, she was diagnosed with a mild case of RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). For those of you who have never heard of this virus, below is some information copied and pasted from http://www.kidshealth.org/.

"RSV causes infection of the lungs and breathing passages. In adults, it may only produce symptoms of a common cold, such as a stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, mild headache, cough, fever, and a general feeling of being ill. But RSV infections can lead to other more serious illnesses in premature babies and kids with diseases that affect the lungs, heart, or immune system.

RSV is highly contagious, and can be spread through droplets containing the virus when a person coughs or sneezes. The infection can spread rapidly through schools and child-care centers. Infants often get it when older kids carry the virus home from school and pass it to them. Almost all kids are infected with RSV at least once by the time they are 2 years old.

RSV infections often occur in epidemics that last from late fall through early spring. Respiratory illness caused by RSV — such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia — usually lasts about a week, but some cases may last several weeks."

With all of the above mention, she is highly contagious to any babies under the age of two. Therefore, it appears that we will not be going to Warren on Christmas day so that we do not contaminate our other small cousins. Also, she will not be going to daycare for the next two weeks. The visit to the doctor was not pleasant. For 15 minutes, Kennedy had to be hooked up to a breathing machine as she kicked and screamed. She looked so pitiful! Luckily, her oxygen level was not too low. If it had been, we would probably be headed to the hospital. We have another appointment with the doctor on Friday. Until then, we have to give her two different medicines. One is a liquid every six hours, and the second is a home breathing treatment every 4 hours. Hopefully, she gets well soon!