Franklin Jefferson lets us know what has been going on with his life, including a recent health scare involving his new baby son, Stefan Paul Franklin, who is just a few months old.
Friday, November 14, 2003~
I am still shaking as I reflect on the event involving our new son earlier this week; he is still in the hospital, recovering, as I write this down.
My wife, M'Kaya, and myself, had just gotten settled down for the night (this particular event happened on Monday, the 10th. We had put Stefan down for the night, and we were getting ready for bed ourselves), and she had been worrying about our little infant son, who was running a fever and seemed rather fussy. He had been unwell all day, and it made us nervous because up to now, our baby son had been healthy since his birth on September 11, a little over 2 months ago, and now he seemed "out of sorts" and seemed quite miserable. He was having a lot of difficulty with his breathing, and he seemed quite uncomfortable. Suddenly, without warning, his little head fell back, and his little eyes closed; and he went limp. His color was also abnormal: his usually healthy brown skin was now a sickly grey color. He looked bad, to say the very least, and it scared the living hell out of us, especially when he went limp on us.
I had M'Kaya stay with our son while I raced to the phone and called 9-1-1 for an ambulance; and I was never so glad to see the paramedics (or the ambulance, for that matter!) when they pulled into our driveway! M'Kaya was crying (and I was pretty close to tears myself), especially when the paramedics took the baby from her arms and to the ambulance. They knew that the situation at hand was serious, so they didn't fool around. They knew that little Stefan had to go to a hospital--and FAST.
We followed the ambulance to the hospital, and for about 20 minutes, M'Kaya and myself waited (and worried) in the Emergency Room waiting area; we were scared, and we were so afraid that our baby boy was dying--or had already done so. But then, 20 minutes later, a doctor wearing a white jacket came up to us, and he said that our little son had a virus called respiratory syncytial virus, which was a virus that affected infants and children on up to the age of two years. He said that RSV was very contagious and was very common in very young babies or very young children, and it could be life-threatening if not treated promptly, and we had done the right thing in getting help for Stefan. He said that our little boy was breathing much easier, thanks to nasal oxygen and antibiotics, and he was now resting comfortably in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We could see him, but we would have to "gown up", so as to not to spread germs; there were plenty of other very sick little ones in the nursery, and they were in much worse shape than our little son.
We then visited our infant son in the NICU (as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was called by the medical staff), and he looked so miserable lying there in a crib. He had twin little plastic prongs resting in his little nose, and his little chest rose and fell; and you could see that he was still having some difficulty with his breathing. His little arms were pinned down at the sides;, and tubes ran from his arms to bottles hooked onto a stand; this was the I.V., which was giving him antibiotics. He had wires on his chest, and he was naked except for his diaper. He also had a clip-like thingie on the toe of one foot, and this was monitoring his breathing and heart-rate. Big tears stood out in his eyes, and when he saw us, he started to cry, but not for long, as a fit of coughing soon overtook him and shook his little body and causing his skin to momentarily turn blue.
The sight devastated us; how we wanted to hold him! But the nurses were firm with us; we couldn't hold him, as he had a contagious virus, and she didn't want us getting sick, too. She said that he was doing better, but he still needed to be monitored; this was why he was in the NICU, so he could be watched closely, in case any potential breathing problems could develop. She said that he was still pretty sick, and it would be at least a few days before he could be moved to a regular pediatric nursery.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003~
I am glad to report that today, Tuesday, the 18th of November, that Stefan is doing much better since I wrote the above entry on Friday. He is now out of the NICU, and he is now in a regular pediatric's ward; but he still won't be released from the hospital until at least this coming weekend. I have been very busy, working at Jonas Bronck and going to the Children's Medical Center to see Stefan; and then going home, to inform my wife about the latest news regarding our little son. She has been a bundle of nerves, and her M.S. has really been flaring up from the stress of Stefan being sick and all. She has been a basketcase, and I am hoping that she won't get sick also. We already have enough on our hands with our son being sick and with HER health problems; we DON'T need her being sick too! That could prove to be quite disasterous!
I talked to Louisiana in Nashville, Tennessee (Louisiana Sandusky, that is), but we didn't talk long; it seems that they are having storms there, and they are currently under a tornado watch. She said that all was presently well with them, but she didn't want to be on the phone long, as the tornado sirens were going off, and the weather was really nasty outside. She said that they were on the way to the basement when I had called, and now was a bad time to talk, she had told me. I hope they will be okay; I always worry about them! Guess I will have to try again later, when all the wild weather calms down for them in Nashville. HOPEFULLY, they won't have TOO much in the way of damage, and hopefully, nobody gets hurt or even killed by the weather!
(Later on, same day)
M'Kaya is presently sleeping; she is worn out from the events that have gone on this week and part of last; she needs to. She has been running herself ragged, and she was on the brink of collapse when I told her that enough was enough, and I wanted her to rest because she would end up getting sick, and with our baby son being in the hospital, I certainly DON'T need that on TOP of things! Meanwhile, I just got home from the hospital, and I am winding down for the day. I am sitting in our house, and I have a fire going in the fireplace; and I have a cup of hot cocoa and am sitting in my easy chair, my feet propped up, as I type this on my computer laptop. Work was busy, and after work, I spent over two hours with Stefan, and all he did was cry, poor little guy. I guess he wants to be home, as he misses mama and myself. Well, WE miss him too; it's too DANGED quiet without the baby!
Wendie, M'Kaya's friend, is in a bad way. She is in the hospital, too, because her kidneys have shut down, and she is now very ill and may be put on dialysis if her kidney function doesn't improve. GREAT. MORE bad news. Just what ELSE is going to happen?? We found out about Wendie on Sunday (her grandmother called to tell us), and we have been very upset. Wendie has been through so much in her life with her health, and she doesn't NEED any more drama in her life! She's suffered WAY TOO MUCH as it is! God, HOW can ONE person go through so much HELL in her life??? It ISN'T fair!!
Well, I better scoot; M'Kaya is calling for me. Guess she has to have help to the restroom so she can do her thing (LOL)! I'll write more soon; HOPEFULLY, I'll have MUCH better news next time!
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