🧵My nearly 2 y/o likely has health issues that have resulted in recent rapid weight loss. Our pediatrician just tried to admit him to the hospital for tube feeding (I’m terrified) & there’s no beds because of Covid. The nurse practitioner started crying. We’re on a waiting list.
I’m sitting in a nearby parking lot because my son is so lethargic he fell asleep as soon as we left trying not to just hate antivaxxers. I’m supposed to just wait near the phone in case a bed opens up. But...
Even if he gets a bed I now have the fear of my vulnerable little son getting Covid on top of his current problems. I’m so frustrated & scared. PLEASE if you are vaccine hesitant, go get vaccinated so innocent people like my baby son aren’t put in this position.
Update: My pediatrician kept calling until they found a nearby town with a spare room for him. Currently admitted and in his room, waiting to see an overworked doctor. You can tell the staff is exhausted, they’re almost booked solid, too.
I posted this only yesterday—they’re standing outside one of the hospitals my pediatrician couldn’t get us into because it was full.
https://twitter.com/iron_eliza/status/1429992135357501442
Still waiting to see a doctor.
Update: saw two doctors that report to another one & they will update me on what the head doctor says. Most likely waiting for X-rays & other tests before tube feeding. Worst part was them trying to get bloodwork from a tiny, undernourished person. He’s sleeping now; rough day.
Update: We’re now back to waiting on a bed at a larger major hospital because there’s no pediatric surgeon here. They’re Covid-full so we don’t know when. The good news w/o going into detail is it looks like everything is 100% fixable once we are able to get him those resources.
Adding this thread here, too:
https://twitter.com/iron_eliza/status/1430733458222067717
Update: for those of you commenting that it’s great we got a bed in a different town but hoping it wasn’t too far from outside help—my mom just drove over 2 hours to drop off some medicine I need. I’m thankful I have someone who can do that but *many* people do not.
Update: the head pediatrician here just came in to tell us she advocated for the urgency of my son’s case and got him one of the few beds at the larger hospital. We’re thrilled, but it’s important to me to keep telling our story because there are *lots* of stories like ours...
...Many people won’t be as lucky as us getting a bed at the hospital we need & it is incredibly sad & unfair to people who really need medical help. I’m hoping that undecided people see this & realize that going unvaccinated has this side effect. My baby boy isn’t the only one.
Update: in our room at the larger hospital with a view of the Covid testing line. They’re also going to kick his dad out at 6pm due to Covid restrictions—he can’t stay overnight with us & likely won’t be here to speak to the surgeon. ☹️ #GetVaccinated #COVID-19 #coronavirus 
This is what we’re dealing with & other states are much worse: greenvilleonline.com/story/news/202…
Update: Still in the hospital. Our son has an NG tube as of this morning because the therapy techniques didn’t get him to eat more than he was at home so he was still losing weight. There’s Covid on the same floor as us & all the rooms fill up as soon as someone is discharged...
...They gave us a little red car “stroller” toy to push him around the halls in & on the far end I kept walking past nurses suiting up in PPE like they were going to space. Yesterday, passed an open door of an empty room that was hosed down with disinfectant; asked why—Covid. 😒
No one told us to be careful passing that end of the hall & I constantly, CONSTANTLY see medical staff with masks under their noses. There’s a 13-ish y/o boy (here for gunshot wound to his face, doing well) who keeps getting in trouble for running around w/no mask. Insanity.
Update (also, I meant to say *almost* a week):
https://twitter.com/iron_eliza/status/1432787595352846338?s=21https://t.co/F7RYyYUqGl
Update: too tired for a real update but quickly here to say headlights just shone *RIGHT* in our hospital room window as I was nearly asleep & I was briefly annoyed at the inconsiderate car parking when I remembered we’re on the 6th floor & opened my eyes to a helicopter. 🚁
Update: Our son’s surgery for tomorrow has been canceled less than a minute after the surgical team left our room to explain everything. The surgeon came right back to tell us it had just happened. The recovery room is no longer available due to Covid+ using up all the resources.
Additionally, it’s looking like the “solution” is he has to go through an extra procedure that involves sedation to put a “bandaid” in place so we can go home for an undetermined amount of time until they can reschedule his surgery. #antivaxxers #GetVaxxedRightNow #Covid_19
Update: The hospital refused to let his dad spend the night & said he could come in the morning to be here before our baby is sedated for the smaller bandaid procedure... which they just now informed me is moved up over an hour & his dad is still at the house in a different town.
Linking this here since it includes a lot of details about how #Covid_19 + #antivax + #antimasker ppl are impacting the healthcare of everyone else. It’s *BAD,* worse than you’re hearing about with just statistics on beds. #COVID19 #healthcare
https://twitter.com/iron_eliza/status/1436147015608582145
Update: My son successfully had the stopgap procedure today (required an IV/sedation but not actual surgery so it didn’t need an OR room which are unavailable due to Covid using up all the resources). It means we will go home w/training & med equipment until they reschedule.
As an aside, we’ve been here until everything begins to bleed together & I was just scrolling through my original posts feeling startled at what was shocking then that I eventually accepted as commonplace. Such as this #Covid_19 testing line outside our window every day...
...This was the original tweet about it but the line actually maxed out like the above pic around 5:30pm on weekdays (so these people came to test for #Covid_19 after they left their coworkers)?? That line continued through 2 other parking lots.
https://twitter.com/iron_eliza/status/1431003210152558593?s=21https://t.co/5C9AT1PZea
...When I saw my original tweet just now I realized we got so used to that view out our window we stopped even considering it interesting—it was just fact that the Covid line would be that long every day... nothing to see here.
Update: WE’RE HOME!! It’s temp while we wait for the Covid+ ppl to stop clogging the hospital so his surgery can be rescheduled but we successfully set up the home med equipment we were trained to use + our son has been running around EUPHORIC we didn’t forget where his house is.
Why I think broad vaccine mandates may be necessary:
https://twitter.com/iron_eliza/status/1436467580089344002
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