Josiah 18-19 months
Christmas 1992
    Josiah had a great Christmas!  In this picture he is 18 months old.  Since his first birthday he had suffered more respiratory illnesses (bronchitis mainly) and had been hospitalized a few times.  This Christmas was a needed rest before what he had to face the next few months.
Josiah Gets RSV
    Soon after Christmas, Josiah came down with what we thought was "just another virus".   His Pediatrician perscribe anitbiotics, as he always did, to prevent a secondary infection.  This has always been very important for Josiah.  If we did not treat him agressively, he would always end up with bronchitis or pneumonia, and in the hospital.
    We were at home one evening a few days later and Josiah bumped his head.  He needed stitches, so we went into the ER.
     About a week after that incident, his bronchitis got worse.  I decided to take him into the ER.  At this point he was still very active, but just really congested, coughing, wheezing, etc, and he developed a fever of about
102 F.  We lived in a large city, and the ER was always very busy with trauma patients.  We waited for hours.  Josiah up and walking around alot in the waiting room , but he had a very sudden change.
     His oxygen saturation was always low, about 85% (normal is 92-100%), and he always had a blueness to his color, but suddenly I looked at him and he was very blue, and he began to look  very weak.  I grabbed him and ran to the triage nurse and said, "He's turning blue!" 
     She rushed him back and they began  tests immediately.   They brought the results of his test back, and they told me that he had RSV.  He was immediately admitted and taken up to the pediatric ward.  I really had no clue the seriousness of his condition, until one of the nurses said, "Do you see the way he is breathing?  Often once they start breathing this way, they usually will be intubated soon."
     The next day they started his treatment.  The treatment at the time was to administer Ribovirun via mist administered in three stages.  He was confined to a very small box/tent, about 2 ft square, for 18 hours.  After that he got a 6 hour break, and then back to the tent for another treatment, this time for 12  hours.  He got another break, and then the final treatment was for 6 hours.  They don't like to use this treatment because it has its own complications.  After this first 3 stage treatment, he was still very ill, had not improved.   His fever was still at about 102 degrees F, and his respiratory status was not improved.  I asked the doctor how long it would be before he would get well.  In all my experiance with Josiah, the doctors have always had a timeline for expected recovery.  This time, he said, "Time will tell.  We just have to wait."  He was not sure Josiah was going to live through this.
Now I was really scared!
     As I said, the doctors don't like to use this drug to treat children due to the side effects.  It is rare enough that they used it, but in Josiah's case, they decided to use it again.  Two courses of this gruely treatment.  Imagine your 18 month old staying a 2 foot square tent, lying on his back. 
     So, Josiah went through the treatment again.  During this time I was pregnant with my fourth child.  This drug is proven to cause birth defects, so I could not be with him while they were treating him.  My mother flew in from WV to help.  She and Josiah's dad took turns staying with him so that he would not have to be tied down (they actually do that!).  I stayed with him during the breaks in the admistration of the Ribovirun.  I had to put on a gown, wear a mask, and rubber gloves to stay with him.
     Grandma stayed with Josiah until the last minute, but soon had to return to WV.  He had just finished his second course of Ribovirun, and Grandma had to leave.  She was distress to do so, because Josiah still looked very ill, and we still were not sure he was going to make it through.
    
 
  Despite our fears, the very next day Josiah made a dramatic recovery.  These are some of the pictures  I took to send to Grandma so that she would  know that everything is alright.  I sent them in overnight mail to calm her fears. 
     I had always just atributed the drug for saving Josiah's life, but as dramatic and sudden as his recovery was, I think maybe God had something to do with it.  He went home the next day. 
     He was well, but never really fully recovered from it (at first).  It caused him to have to have his second surgery earlier than they wanted to do it.  In June of that year (4 months later), he had his second and most difficult surgery.
   He is well today (8 years later) and suffers no adverse effects of the RSV, and has not had the disease since.
" Alright, that's enough!  I am out
     of here!"