Amy Schumer’s son hospitalized for RSV: ‘This was the hardest week of my life’

Over the weekend, Amy Schumer shared a struggle so many parents can relate to right now, sadly—her son, Gene, was hospitalized with RSV last week. In an Instagram post, the comedian shares how difficult it was to balance her son’s illness with her demanding work schedule.

“This was the hardest week of my life,” Schumer wrote, sharing photos from her Saturday Night Live hosting gig. “I missed Thursday rehearsals when my son was rushed to the ER and admitted for RSV. Shout out to all the parents going through this right now.”

She was set to host SNL on Saturday, which typically means a grueling rehearsal schedule through the week to prepare for the live show. She missed some of those rehearsal times in order to be with her son during his time of need—as any mama would.

“I got to be with him the whole day at the hospital and the beautiful humans at @nbcsnl couldn’t have been more supportive,” she said. “My son is home and better.”

Related: 12 things parents need to know about RSV

RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus, is already in full swing for the 2022 cold/flu/virus season. In healthy adults and older kids, RSV usually presents as a common cold. Symptoms of RSV may often start out as mild, with just a clear runny nose and reduced appetite for a couple of days, and then progress to cough and wheezing.

While RSV can present as a mild upper respiratory cold, it can be especially severe for younger children, babies born prematurely, those with chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems and older adults. Serious cases are marked by a lower respiratory illness, such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia.

Related: Does breastfeeding protect against RSV?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RSV results in around 58,000 annual hospitalizations and 100 to 300 deaths among children under 5. While the CDC doesn’t keep track of all RSV cases, they are tracking changes in the spread of the virus during the RSV 2022 season.

Related: Amy Schumer gets real about missing her son when she’s working:’It’s brutal’

“We have observed a rise in RSV in multiple U.S. regions, and some regions are nearing seasonal peak levels,” a CDC spokesperson tells NBC News.

Last week, nearly 5,000 tests came back positive, according to CDC data. That’s not far from the number in the same week of October 2021 but far higher than in October 2020.

Schumer thanked the cast and crew of SNL as well as the doctors and nurses who cared for three-year-old Gene.

“The reason this show is so fun to do isn’t actually the performance or the show itself. It’s getting to spend time with the people there,” she writes. “The cast and the writers of course but the people who are behind the scenes making it run smooth are my favorite. The crew! Donna. Jerry. Jodi. Genna. Tom Wally and on and on. Lorne has assembled the most talented people with the kindest hearts. Thank you everyone there and to the doctors and nurses who helped us.”