Gannon’s Surgery: Complications Part Four

Before you read on, you may want to catch up on the last three blog posts here:

• The PERFECT Lightweight Tee!
• May 2023 – Quilter and Cross Stitch Tee Launch!
• The Text Message
• Family Pictures!
• Bike Adventures – April 2023!

Also – please know I do post about things other than Gannon but judging by my last 5 blog posts, it appears that “The Pink Shoelaces” revolves around my little Ganjo. It usually doesn’t but this week, it does.

Gannon woke up at 4 am – SCREAMING. Like definitely not your normal *4 am I want a bottle* like screaming. Keep in mind we haven’t even been home from the hospital for 12 hours.

I go to pull him out of his crib and he is STEAMING. I run downstairs, pull some of his scheduled pain medications and a thermometer. By the time I came back upstairs Gannon had thrown up and Gannon’s temp – 102.5. Craig thankfully caught the puke (Dad win!) ?

Specifically in the discharge instructions, it says “call the pediatric urology resident on call if fever over 101.5” ugh. So I call and he says that we need to be seen. 

Here’s the thing – obviously everyone is at a higher risk of infection post operatively but usually it’s about a week out is when a post op infection would develop. It’s been about 36 hours. 

I haul him up and take him to my ER that I work at. His lungs sounds JUNKY. He tested negative for RSV and Influenza – no ear infection – his urine sample was crystal clear no cough or runny nose but a chest X-ray shows: pneumonia. 

Ugh. Poor little tot. Yesterday was just straight up ROUGH. He was lethargic and irritable. I gave him Tylenol and an hour later his temp went from 102.5 to 103. He was working harder to breathe, we were doing nebulizers every 6 hours along with round the clock Tylenol and ibuprofen. At three am his temp was back up to 103.5! I was so worried about him. Not to mention he started having watery diarrhea. Remember last month Gannon ended up in the ER because he got so dehydrated? Fever + diarrhea + pneumonia = bad news.

I ended up making a follow up in the clinic for him this morning. I was so so worried about him. They said a lot of things like:

• “Are you sure you’re getting enough sleep?”
• “You seem tired.”
• “It’s hard to be objective when you’re a healthcare provider.”
• “He looks totally fine now!”
• “He’s drinking okay!” 
• “This must be so stressful for you!”

It was all very patronizing and made me feel like they thought I was crazy. So we went home.

Thankfully, Gannon is turning around this afternoon. I’m voice texting this blog post as Carver and Gannon are continuously splashing me while they take a bath. Gannon seems to be more like himself. He’s doing normal Gannon things like “kisses” (where he smacks his lips) dumping out Betsy’s water bowl. Following me around and sticking his head between my ankles when I’m cooking. His temp has settled down too. 

I so hope this is the final chapter in the Gannon saga – at least for this week. 

I’ve got a TON of new readers and followers since Gannon has been sick this week – thank you for keeping up with our little Gannon. 

I post every morning at 0530 am (including tomorrow morning) if you’d like to join our regular readership. The blog has morphed to less about nursing and more about family with a whole lot of random in between! 

You can find me on every form of social media by searching The Pink Shoelaces!