Pauli left us on May 14, 2003 at the age of 9 and a half. He was two months shy of his tenth birthday.
He had not been feeling well the past week (was lethargic and quiet). So we took it easy with extra therapies and school. Sunday we went to Kay’s (restaurant) to spend Mother's Day with family as we did each year. Pauli was quiet and slept while we were there, even with his favorite little cousin Aly, trying to play with him. On Monday he stayed home from school, he was not acting right but really showed no signs of pneumonia. He didn't need any extra breathing treatments and his lungs sounded clear. By Tuesday morning his breathing be came a bit labored, he was very tense and he would moan softly with each breathe. So off to the pediatrician we went. His ped. felt we should stop by the ER just to get a x-ray of his hips and lungs. He was acting like he was in pain so we thought his sub-plexed hips were bothering him (causing the fast breathing and uncomfortablness he was feeling)and the chest x-ray was a precaution. His hips were over time dislocated and we knew surgery was in the future. Until he was in pain I did not want to put him through hip surgery.Turns out his lungs were so full of fluid they sounded clear when we listened to them. All four lobes were full; he had never had pneumonia that badly. So he was admitted to the PICU Tuesday Night.
By Wednesday morning he was struggling so hard to breath I had decided to have him put on a ventilator. The vent would allow him to be sedated & comfortable and his lungs to have some help while they had a chance to heal. As the PICU doctors were trying to vent him his little heart gave out. The doctors and I were not expecting that, we all thought it would be another "regular" hospital stay, we would get him on IV meds , aggressive respiratory therapy and he would be home in a few days! They worked on him for 35 mintues but his little body was just to tired.
He is dancing with the angels now. . . someday we will meet again.