Naguabo: Thank you for the reviews. Keep in mind, too, that this is my first ever story. I really love getting reviews, they inspire me to update. Keep at it!
Later that week, Matt got a call from Julie. She said, "Landon is at the doctor's. He's been wheezing lately, so the doctor wanted to see him."
Matt replied, "Well, what do they think is wrong with him?"
Julie said, "The doctor thinks it sounds like he may have a cold. So they want to take a look at him."
Matt initially thought, A cold? That's it? Why would they want to see him over a little cold? That's no biggie. However, he almost immediately remembered that although a cold wouldn't be a big deal for a healthy person, for a cystic fibrosis patient like Landon, it could potentially be fatal. So Matt called home, made sure Lily and Lexi were settled with the baby-sitter, and drove over to the doctor's office to be with Julie and Landon.
Landon was lying on the examining table and was crying because the pulse-ox monitor was pinching his toe. He said, "Daddy, get this thing off! It pinches! I don't like it!"
Matt told his son, "Landon, I know you don't like this, but you need it. It's measuring how much oxygen you're getting." He knew Landon, being only two and a half, wouldn't understand what that meant at all, but he still thought Landon needed to know why it was on him.
The doctor came in then. Matt looked at him and asked, "Well, what's the deal?"
The doctor said, "Landon's blood oxygen levels are low."
"How low?" asked Julie, obviously concerned.
"Eighty-two. Normally, they should be in the upper nineties. We also did a chest X-ray on Landon, and it showed some darkish spots in his lungs. So his cold has become pneumonia. As a precaution, we should probably admit him to the hospital."
Landon said, "No! No! No hopsical!"
Matt said, "Landon, you need to go to the hospital so you can get well. You'll get better if you cooperate."
Julie added, "Plus, Landon, you'll get to wear a really cool hospital gown!"
Landon seemed to perk up a bit and asked, "Wike Daddy's cool sirt he aways wear for games?"
Matt said, "Yes, yes, exactly like the cool shirt I wear for games! And, Landon, it's not a shirt, it's a jersey. " Landon looked confused, so Matt said, "I'll explain it later."
"Okay," said Landon.
Matt went back home to tell Lily and Lexi that Landon was going to the hospital.
"What's wrong?" asked Lily, obviously worried about her brother.
"Well, he caught a cold that turned into pneumonia," said Matt.
"What's pneumonia?" asked Lily.
"It's when the cold basically settles into your lungs and chest and makes it hard to breathe."
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Well, Lily, the doctors at the hospital are going to try to make him all better, okay?"
"Okay."
Matt drove back to the hospital and learned that Landon was now in the PICU. Julie was already in his room, trying to read The Cat in the Hat Comes Back to him, but Landon seemed distressed. When Matt walked into Landon's room, he immediately perked up and called, "Daddy!"
Julie said, "Thank goodness you're here, Matt. Landon's been crying the whole time for you. He wanted his daddy."
A nurse walked in to take Landon's vitals. She said, "Hi, Landon. You're a cute little boy. How old are you?"
Julie said, "He's two and a half, but he'll be three in March."
The nurse seemed surprised. She said, "I thought he was already three. Probably because he's so tall." After the nurse took Landon's temperature and blood pressure, she left.
Matt looked at Landon. He was lying on the hospital bed, and he looked so fragile. Although Landon was quite tall for his age, he looked tiny on the bed. He also had a pulse-ox monitor on his finger, a heart monitor on his chest, and oxygen tubing in his nose. Matt wanted to cry, but he knew he had to be strong. He said, "Landon, buddy, Daddy is so sorry that you have to go through this. I know you don't understand why this is going on, but I wish it was me going through this and not you."
"So do I," said Julie. She stroked Landon's blond hair-same color as hers-and said, "Mommy and Daddy are here for you buddy."
As Landon's hospitalization continued, Matt would rotate between being at the hospital with Julie and Landon and at home with Lily and Lexi. Julie was by Landon's side 24/7 except for bathroom breaks. On the third day of Landon's hospitalization, the doctor was concerned about Landon's labored breathing. He was grunting and his chest was caving in whenever he took a breath.
The doctor said, "Landon should probably go on a respirator. His breathing is becoming so labored that I'm worried that it could put too much of a strain on his heart. The respirator will make it much easier for him to breathe." So Landon went on the respirator. He was also being given IV medication to kill the infection. Matt and Julie felt helpless seeing their son being so sick and not being able to do a thing about it. Matt looked at Landon, attached to the respirator, and thought, How long will it be before Lexi gets really sick? He knew it was inevitable, as Lexi also had cystic fibrosis. With Lexi, it wasn't a question of if, but when.
About a week after Landon was placed on the respirator, the doctors brought up something Matt and Julie had never even considered. He said, "As you know, CF patients have trouble putting on weight. In the nine months since Landon was diagnosed, he has put on virtually no weight at all. As he is already seriously underweight, this is a major problem. I think it could really benefit Landon a lot if he had a feeding tube."
Matt said, "A feeding tube?! Why in the world would he need a feeding tube? He can eat and swallow easily. It's practically all he does."
The doctor said, "I know. He will still eat orally as he usually does. The tube feedings would just be like a supplement. A feeding tube would allow food to go directly into his intestines instead of having to be broken down by his stomach and pancreas, which is not doing a good enough job of breaking it down. The food is only being digested by a few enzymes in his stomach, and not by his pancreas. If we can get the food directly into his intestines, we can bypass that problem and he can get extra calories and be able to put on weight. Once he puts on weight, he'll be stronger and be better able to withstand all the inevitable respiratory infections that take a toll on children with CF."
The doctor left, leaving Matt and Julie to discuss it themselves.
"I think what he said made a lot of sense," said Julie
"Yeah," said Matt. "If it could help him gain weight, then it would probably be a good thing for him. He is a skinny little thing."
Julie said, "I think we should do it." So they went out and told the doctor that they would give Landon a feeding tube and see if it helped any.
A few days later, Landon had surgery to put in the feeding tube. Matt and Julie prepared him for it by telling him that the doctor was going to put something in his tummy to help him absorb more food so he could gain weight and get big and strong.
Landon's surgery to put in the feeding tube went smoothly. Shortly after the surgery, he came off the respirator. A few days after coming off the respirator, he was back home. The first- but certainly not the last-CF crisis was over. Landon was home and healthy again.
