Staff at the Lighthouse nursery told us that Harriet was not herself today and seemed to struggle, as we took Harriet home it seemed that she may have come down with some sort of virus or cold.
Harriet was put to bed and we kept making sure that her heart rate and oxygen levels were at a reasonable level for Harriet, but as the day progressed, Harriet seemed to be getting worse, her oxygen levels were dropping and her heart rate was raised significantly.
We decided that we needed some help and contacted the kite team; they spoke with the relevant consultants and asked us to bring Harriet in straight away.
Harriet`s breathing was now starting to deteriorate and knew we had to get her to hospital soon, but decided to take her in the van, rather than an ambulance as Harriet was more comfortable in the upright position as her lungs could drain off the increased secretions.
As we arrived at the hospital we parked the van quickly and then rushed Harriet into the children`s Accident and Emergency Department. We told them the kite team had spoken to the relevant consultants and that Harriet was now in respiratory distress and needed urgent medical attention.
Harriet was then rushed through into one of the hospital bays and was wired up to the saturation monitors, the nurse took Harriet`s observations while the consultant doctor asked us about Harriet.
The doctor told us that Harriet was in respiratory distress and would need to stay in hospital until she was stable enough to go home. There were relevant tests needed, with the first one being a chest X-Ray to rule out whether there was any infection on Harriet`s lungs.
Harriet had the chest X-Ray and was then sent back to the bay, where she was wired back up to the machines, the nurse continued to observe Harriet until the doctor returned.
The doctor told us that Harriet`s lungs were clear, but as Harriet was clearly struggling with her breathing that she would need to go on to the Dolphin Intensive care unit, as Harriet`s condition was very complex.
Harriet was given some strong Antibiotics to help control the problem which they thought was either a cold or virus, a few days later Harriet`s condition started to stabilize.
As the doctors made their early morning rounds, they came to see Harriet, they were pleased with Harriet`s progress, but did not want to keep Harriet in hospital any longer than they needed too, as there were potentially other viruses and bugs that Harriet may contract that would cause her alot of problems, some of which were life threatening.
The doctor told us that although Harriet was alot more stable, that she would need to continue on oxygen and was happy for Harriet to go home, if we had enough oxygen to keep Harriet`s oxygen levels in her blood at a safe level.
We explained that there was enough oxygen for at least three days and that we were happy to take Harriet home, especially given all the other viruses that were in hospital and on the ward.
Harriet was discharged from hospital a few hours later and we were pleased that she was now coming home, even though she was still not very well.
The new room that was built especially for Harriet would now come into its own and act as a hospital type environment, Oxygen would keep Harriet at safe level, nebulizers would help control her breathing, while the saturation monitor would give us an indication as to how Harriet was coping.
Harriet would also be away from other patients that could potentially pass another strain of virus onto her which could have devastating effects.
Harriet was very poorly for another four days and was virtually lifeless, but then seemed to get better and started to try and communicate and show signs that she was happier within herself.
We would like to say a big thank you to all the team at the Derby Royal Hospital for helping Harriet to overcome this.
Mum and Dad
