A few days ago, I wrote about the way a simple fever can stir up big anxiety when you’re parenting a medically complex kid. I was hoping it would just be that—a fever, some rest, and then back to normal.
But this time it wasn’t. We ended up in the hospital for two days.
Nothing dramatic, nothing catastrophic—just doctors and nurses who agreed it was better to err on the side of caution. And honestly, I’m grateful. Because while most parents can ride out a fever with Tylenol, hydration, and snuggles on the couch, that gray area feels riskier for us. Sometimes a fever is just a fever. And sometimes it’s the first sign of something more.
This time, the fever just kept edging closer to 104. With Dot being so tiny, it made me nervous. So we went to Urgent Care. I was fully expecting them to give her Tylenol and send us home, but with no clear reason for the high fever—and then her oxygen dipping into the low 90s—they decided it was safer to send us on to the ER. Cue the ambulance ride and our chauffeur service to the Children’s Hospital.
Of course, her breathing settled down the moment we got there. Still, I couldn’t shake the worry that maybe scar tissue was creeping back into her airway. The ER attending (who actually remembered us from a previous visit!) and I talked it through, and with Dot’s history we decided to admit her. Once she was officially staying, Loren drove down with our hospital bags and some dinner for me—such a gift.
The next morning, ENT came by to scope her airway and, to my enormous relief, gave us the all clear. From there, it was two days of beeping monitors, hospital coffee, and watching Dot snooze under fluorescent lights—all for what turned out to be a UTI.
It’s not the post I wanted to write, but it feels important to share—because for families like ours, this is the rhythm. The waiting, the wondering, the hoping it’s nothing… and sometimes, the packing up and heading back to the hospital.
If you missed the first part of this story, you can read it here.