The hearts of parents, no matter what age their children are, never want them to be sick, especially unexpected illnesses in unfamiliar places. For example, “Nong Hogen,” who was healthy but became seriously ill and had to use a ventilator while on a beach trip in another province with the family… This was a critical time when the parents had to find the best care for their little one.
Child on a ventilator, mother’s heart breaks
Khun Nichapha Prasongphon, mother of Master Monkaneswar Sriwilaslak or Nong Hogen, recounted that on December 4, 2017, the family took Nong Hogen to the beach. Normally, he was a very healthy child with no symptoms of illness. However, at around 4:00 AM on December 5, he woke up crying, saying he couldn’t breathe, was panting, and made a gesture of squeezing his neck as if having an asthma attack before writhing on the floor, which frightened his mother greatly.
Khun Nichapha and her husband decided to take Nong Hogen to the nearest hospital to their accommodation. The hospital provided full assistance, but the attending doctor was not a pediatric specialist, and the equipment was inadequate. The treatment was mainly supportive, waiting for a pediatrician to take over care.
“Every second counts” so they decided to transfer the child to the Pediatric ICU at Phyathai 3 Hospital
Khun Nichapha described her feelings at that time, saying they felt every minute was precious and wanted to bring Nong Hogen back home to Bangkok for treatment. She contacted Dr. Thongchai Siritikul, a pediatrician at the Child Health Center, Phyathai 3 Hospital, who is also the “uncle doctor” of all three of her children.
Dr. Thongchai communicated with the doctors at the initial hospital about the treatment plan and advised the mother on the transfer to Bangkok. He also informed them that Phyathai 3 Hospital has a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Since many other hospitals did not have a pediatric ICU, the mother contacted Phyathai 3 Hospital and received excellent coordination for the transfer and treatment.
Arriving at the second home, mother feels reassured
When the ambulance brought Nong Hogen to Phyathai 3 Hospital, Dr. Manchai Ratchataiyos, a pediatrician specializing in respiratory diseases and critical care at the Child and Adolescent Health Center, Phyathai 3 Hospital, who is the attending pediatrician in the PICU, immediately began treatment.
At the same time, Khun Nichapha said that as a mother, once her child was in the hands of familiar doctors and in a familiar place, she felt reassured. More importantly, this hospital has a PICU that treats seriously ill children from newborns up to 15 years old, with a team of pediatric specialists and nurses providing 24-hour care, equipped with medical devices and tools ready for treatment. This gave her confidence that her child would recover. During that time, she constantly consulted with Dr. Thongchai, even though it was his day off. What impressed her most was that in the evening of that day, the doctor drove back from another province to check on Nong Hogen’s condition.
Mother’s worries eased as medical and nursing teams continuously updated on her child’s condition
Khun Nichapha further shared that while Nong Hogen was in the PICU, she was very scared because her three children had never been seriously ill before. Whenever they were sick, they immediately came to Phyathai 3 Hospital. But this time, her child showed no signs of illness but suddenly became very severe. Importantly, her child was just over 5 years old and had to stay alone in the ICU. However, the hospital helped ease her worries by having the doctor continuously update her on her child’s condition, and the nurses provided detailed information about Nong Hogen’s status, which greatly comforted the family. After thorough examinations, the doctor informed her that her child was ill due to a rather severe viral infection, the Coronavirus, which caused respiratory symptoms, wheezing, and pneumonia. However, it was still unclear what caused the infection; it was suspected to be from a wound from a fall or possibly from the swimming pool, among other possibilities.
From the events over the past few days, the most important thing is the safety of the child. Certainly, the readiness of the medical team and the hospital’s preparedness are invaluable. Thanks to Phyathai 3 Hospital for having all these qualities, this place has become like a second home where the family trusts and believes in entrusting the life of their beloved child for care.