Our baby's hospital stay

[OnMyWay]

Our baby, Leila, 1 year 4 months, had to check into the hospital for 3 nights.  She got a virus and it turned into pneumonia, but we didn't know about the pneumonia until an x-ray was taken.  She went through the normal virus cycle with fever (not too high), etc., but then her cough was really bad after the fever had passed.  The main reason she got that bad was that this kid refuses medicines, no matter what method we tried.  So we had to get her on an IV to get the virus and pneumonia treated correctly.  Now she is home and forcefully getting some of the followup meds into her, for the next week.  She is still coughing but as I understand it, when you have pneumonia, you will cough for a few weeks after treatment stops.  Her coughing was much less today and much shallower.  She is happy and energetic, so no worries there.  She seem to have gained weight on the IV.

My wife was her "watcher', of course, and it was a tough time for her.  The baby was restless all the time, messing with the IV, etc., so neither got much sleep.  On my side, I had to deal with our 13 year old having mid-terms, our 3.5 year old missing mommy, shuttling back and forth from home, school and hospital, and trying to manage all the household stuff my wife usually handles.  So I didn't get much sleep either.  We sure need to find a helper!

The hospital was ok.  Both of our kids were born there and our pediatrician has his clinic downstairs.  They seem to be cutting some costs but we still liked the staff.  We had a private room.

We almost were not able to avail of our Philhealth.  You have to have your Philhealth documents ready before checking out or you will not get the Philhealth credit.  They no longer allow reimbursement after the fact, as of 2014.  You need your Philhealth ID and a copy of your last OR.  Some might require your MDR too.  We were a few weeks late paying the Philhealth due September 30th, and we paid it mid-October, for a full year.  My wife put the envelope with the OR and MDR in an envelope at home.  She remember putting it on one of our bedroom dressers.  I searched for several hours looking for it.  I moved dressers, looked underneath and behind everything, and could not find it anywhere.  On my 3rd and last attempt, the night before checkout, I moved a dresser that has a little metal and plastic utility cabinet on wheels next to it.  They bumped and I saw the envelope slide out of the open side of the utility cabinet and fall to the floor.  The darn envelope had slid off of the dresser and slid into the side of the utility cabinet, lodging between the metal legs and the plastic drawers!

That was a p9000 relief!  The total bill was p24,236, about $470.  I paid p3000 to check in and p12,236 to check out, so my share was p15,236.  Philhealth paid p9000. 

The girls were back to normal today.  In between force feedings of medicine, Leila and her big sis Katy were playing coneheads!

 

[earthdome]

Glad to hear your little one is recovering. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[Jake]

10 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

The girls were back to normal today.  In between force feedings of medicine, Leila and her big sis Katy were playing coneheads!

 

Hello Don,

Sometimes it's beyond the parent's control and you just have to allow mother nature to take its course regarding your baby Leila's recovery.  Hopefully both you and your wife are getting a well deserved rest by now.  

I am by no means, an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) about being a clean or neat freak.  But I do try to sanitize all the common surfaces in the house before or after someone gets a flu virus.  It's the rainy season there and all kinds of bacteria and viruses seem to multiple under those conditions.  A strong solution of hydrogen peroxide with water is the cheapest way to kill these bugs.   

We appreciate your field report regarding local medical care and issues with PhilHealth.  Respectfully Jake

[Old55]

Don, our prayers are with your little one hope she keeps on healing quickly.

[Kuya John]

Just to add my good wishes too Don.

Hope the little one is soon running round again.

[MikeB]

Very glad to hear all is ok. I thought you had Pacific Cross (formerly Blue Cross). I may be confusing you with someone else.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, MikeB said:

I thought you had Pacific Cross (formerly Blue Cross). I may be confusing you with someone else.

I'm the guy who keeps saying he is going to get Pacific Cross and the brochure remains here on my desk!

[Gerald Glatt]

Do you have to buy your philhealth separate from wife and family?  Glad the little on id better. 

[OnMyWay]

5 hours ago, Jake said:

Hello Don,

Sometimes it's beyond the parent's control and you just have to allow mother nature to take its course regarding your baby Leila's recovery.  Hopefully both you and your wife are getting a well deserved rest by now.  

I am by no means, an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) about being a clean or neat freak.  But I do try to sanitize all the common surfaces in the house before or after someone gets a flu virus.  It's the rainy season there and all kinds of bacteria and viruses seem to multiple under those conditions.  A strong solution of hydrogen peroxide with water is the cheapest way to kill these bugs.   

We appreciate your field report regarding local medical care and issues with PhilHealth.  Respectfully Jake

Jake, I hear you and actually we are reasonably aware of germs and protection from them.  We are big on hand sanitizer and Katy would be using it too much if we didn't stop her.  I think many germs are passed hand to hand or mouth, but most have a very short life span in the open air.

We are fairly certain that we know how she got it.  Actually, Katy got if first.  Our Korean neighbors have twins just slightly older than Katy and a baby a bit younger than Leila.  All very sweet kids, but they always have runny noses, coughing, etc.  We have a short wall that separates our front lanai from theirs.  The kids like to stand at the wall and play and talk.  When they do that, they are face to face, literally.  My wife noticed, too late, that the little girl had sneezed directly into Katy's face, and both of the twins were coughing.

The next day, Katy came down with this virus, and about 1.5 days later Leila got it.  We tried very hard to keep Leila away from Katy but that is next to impossible.  Both kids were still active except when they had a higher fever at night and felt bad.  That was 2 nights for both of them.  Katy rolled through it fairly easily but has a persistent cough now being treated with anti-biotics.  And Leila ended up with pneumonia.

Usually I get whatever the kids get, but I really tried hard not too!  I did get something but I never had a fever, and just got the cough and lung congestion, which is almost gone now.  My wife got a sore throat the past few days but that is all (she has a really strong immune system!).  Our 13 year got nothing, thank God.  It may of helped that she hunkered away studying for her exams.

So I hope the twins will be healthy so Katy can play with them.  We are going to have keep a close eye on them and keep them away from the short wall that creates the perfect germ warfare environment!

[Queenie O.]

Hi OMW, 

So glad to hear that your little girl  is doing much better. I know of two other small children that had recent hospital stays due to pneumonia--one was an infant. I think that often the damp air and weather can have something to do with it. Quite an ordeal, but glad that she's home and routines are getting more normal for you all.

Edited October 22, 2017 by Queenie O.