-So here's a spatula, baby. -I remember telling my dad
that I really wanted to go to the hospital
because I didn't want to be sick anymore.
'Cause I went through three days of each different torment.
The first day, I had unbelievable stomach pain
and I felt like I couldn't move
and every step I took made it worse.
On the second day, I felt super nauseous
and I just, my body felt a bit better, but not really.
The third day, I couldn't eat.
I couldn't drink.
It was all because, after being nauseous for so long,
I threw up everything I ate or drank.
-I called him to see if she was able to keep down
the Rice Krispies she'd eaten that morning and he's like,
"Yeah, she's keeping down the Rice Krispies,
but her color looks terrible.
Her lips are blue and her arms are cold".
And, as soon as I heard that,
I knew, "There's something wrong.
This is not normal.
She needs to be seen".
We had been avoiding going to the hospital,
like everyone else is, because of the coronavirus,
but, at that point, we were like,
"Okay, there's something more serious going on".
So, I was at home, taking care of the boys,
and he's calling me and texting me.
He's like, "They're having trouble getting a vein.
She's so dehydrated.
They're doing a chest X-ray.
They're checking her urine.
There's something wrong with her heart.
They're talking to Cardiology".
And then, very quickly, it was like,
"Oh, they think there's something
very serious wrong with her heart.
They're thinking it's myocarditis
and they want to helicopter her down to Ochsner,"
to the big regional hospital, about an hour away.
And I said to them, "Oh, no.
We don't need to do that. We can just drive her.
It's only an hour. We'll just drive her.
We don't need a helicopter".
And he said, "No, Jennifer.
You don't understand.
They're going to intubate her and then put her on a helicopter
'cause they need a team to be onboard with her, just in case".
-She first presented to St Tammany Parish Hospital.
She presented with heart block,
so the electricity from the top chamber of her heart
wasn't talking to the bottom chamber of her heart.
She presented with severe dysfunction of her heart,
so her heart wasn't squeezing very well.
And her blood pressure was very low,
as well as her heart rate.
Because of that, they needed to put in a breathing tube
and intubate her.
-Suddenly, I was faced with the very real reality
that my baby is in dire danger,
barely holding on, barely alive, I mean, getting on a helicopter.
I don't know if she's like having
another cardiac arrest on the helicopter.
I don't know if she needs more CPR.
I don't know if she's gonna make it
to the other side of the lake.
Finally, at about 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 at night,
I was able to see her and she's in the ICU unit
and she's got the breathing tube down her throat.
She's got all these lines and monitors.
She just looked so small and frail.
I mean, she only weighs 75 pounds.
I was in the ICU room with her for 10 days straight.
The whole time, her heart rate would just fluctuate.
It would go anywhere from the 70s to 200s
and all sorts of things,
just 'cause her heart was so inflamed.
She was on the ventilator from Monday to Thursday.
-After Juliet, we've become more aware
of this inflammatory syndrome that's related to coronavirus
and we have seen, within this week, three cases,
alone, that are presenting similar to Juliet, as well.
Her case really highlighted
to everyone the possible implications of coronavirus
in pediatric patients
and I think we're all more aware of it because of Juliet.
-Oh, just twist and pull.
I'm improving.
I got off some of my medication
and I'm feeling like things are slowly,
but surely, turning back to normal.
Wow, that was easy.
I didn't even need to pull hard.