My Children Were Turning Blue – Pertussis, a deadly bacteria
If you have ever seen your child turn blue, you can understand the horror and fear I experienced this past summer. It all started one night when our 14 month old began coughing. He was still sleeping in a crib beside our bed at the time, and it sounded like he was choking. I got up, held him until he was done, and put him back to bed. Now, I have 8 children and have seen a lot of ugly viruses go through our home, but nothing like this. My children have had pneumonia and reactive airway disease, so I do not usually worry too much over a cough. However, our youngest, Samuel, was experiencing a cough that I had never heard before. It sounded like he had something in the back of his throat, and his airway was getting blocked. Over the course of that weekend, his cough was getting worse, especially at night. Soon, my three year old began to cough. That Monday, I took my kindergarten twins to the doctor on for their school physicals and brought Samuel with. His lungs were clear, so the doctor was not worried, and we went home. He did hear deep congestion in one of our twins, so he put him on an antibiotic. By Wednesday, I was sleep-deprived, since every night Samuel was choking, and seemed unable to breathe. I began a search on the internet, and being somewhat of a medical mystery geek, I looked up pertussis. I saw a video of a child on You Tube and recognized the cough right away. I immediately called the doctor’s office and requested they test my children for pertussis. Ironically, my sister and I met at the doctor’s office since her children were suffering from a similar cough. My children and hers tested positive and the entire family was put on antibiotics. There is more to the story, but let me first tell a little about pertussis.
Pertussis is a bacterial infection which grows in your nose, throat and airways. Usually it begins with minor cold like symptoms, such as a runny nose and cough. As the disease progresses, the cough becomes thick and spastic. The airway can become blocked and oxygen deprivation can occur. The bacteria leaves behind toxins which produces thick secretions in all the airway passages. A person will struggle to cough up this mucous and at times, be unable to breathe. Usually coughing fits will end with vomiting. Pertussis or whooping coughs has also been called the 100 day cough by the Chinese. In reality it is not unusual for this cough to last for 6 months.
When my family contracted pertussis, I thought antibiotics would take care of the problem, and we would be all better within a week. Much to my shock, the only reason for the antibiotics was to kill the bacteria, so it would not be spread to other people. The bacteria, which had been growing secretly in my children, had already done its damage by producing toxins. Since antibiotics do not get rid of toxins, the disease would have to run its course. For more nights than I can count, I ran from child to child trying to help them breathe. I had four children sleeping in my room, and the only way they could breathe was to sleep sitting up. All night long I would listen to them breathe. When I would hear a strange breathing pattern, I would run to that child, sit them back up, and help them as they went through another coughing fit. This happened for 5 straight weeks. I watched my youngest two children as their lips turned blue and they gasped for air. I do not believe I slept more than one hour at any given time. The first week of the disease, I did not sleep at all. I went down to 97 lbs and even had my first real anxiety attack. I cried, I prayed, I screamed out to God to help my children. I was not ready to lose any of them and begged Him to make them well. I was a nervous wreck, and was ready to take the entire family to the hospital. However, I learned that the hospital would be doing the same thing that I was doing at home, so instead of leaving them in a room alone in the hospital at night, I kept them at home. The only thing I couldn’t do for them that the hospital could do was give them oxygen. I gave out breathing treatments around the clock. Preparing for bed took over an hour, as children lined up to receive a breathing treatment from the nebulizer. But it did not stop with my children, my husband was sick too! One night I woke up to a horrible gasping sound in the hall. My husband, a strong guy, was unable to breathe. He was gasping and trying to get in air. He finally coughed and threw up. This happened to him every night for about two weeks. I was really scared. He even threw up blood at one point. He also was prescribed an inhaler, and used it for several months. I thought to myself, “if my grown husband cannot cough this stuff up, how can little children survive?” I learned that many, many babies die from pertussis.
Most people have never seen pertussis because with vaccinations readily available, it is no longer considered a normal childhood disease. However, this year, pertussis was seen at epidemic levels around the country. It is highly contagious, and children who have been vaccinated can still get it, although it will not be as severe. It is extremely contagious, and every parent should recognize the symptoms. Sometimes, it is misdiagnosed as viral asthma, since doctors have not seen it often. In fact, in researching pertussis, I was shocked to find so many articles about children not getting properly diagnosed.
If you think your child may have pertussis, please contact your healthcare provider and keep your child away from other children. Even after antibiotics, I did not allow my children in public for 6 weeks.
If you have questions about pertussis which I can answer, please contact me and I would be happy to talk with you about my experience.
