This post is not intended to upset anyone. If you are sensitive to children's illness or prefer to not read about raw emotions, please stop here. Although I try to keep my blog as upbeat as possible I more importantly want it to reflect our real lives. My goal is for the girls to have stories to help them remember their childhood. This weekend was the hardest one in the last 7 1/2 months and hopefully the worst (medically) we ever have to deal with.
Addison developed a fever on Saturday, the 15th of March. We treated it with Tylenol and lots of TLC. By Monday morning it was evident there was more going on. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a left ear infection. She was tested for RSV and the flu, both of which came back negative. She was given albuterol to be administered on the nebulizer as needed for her chest congestion. Over the next few days Addison was barely eating and sleeping, however her fever and respiratory symptoms seemed to be gone, or at least improving.
When Friday the 21st rolled around I noticed Addison's symptoms seeming to flare up. She did not sleep well at all that night. On Saturday Addison's health began deteriorating. She refused all food including nursing. During the afternoon she was lethargic so I made the call it was time to get her looked at. Locally our only option on a Saturday is the ER. When Addison was looked at in the Leavenworth ER her fever was 103.7 (on Tylenol, Motrin and antibiotics). Addison was put in a room away from the regular ER patients. I assume its because of her symptoms or age. The doctor said her lungs sounded OK, but requested blood to be taken and a RSV test done. The RSV came back negative but the doctor wanted a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia. The blood draw was traumatizing for all of us. The plebotomist tried her best to find a vain, but unfortunately it only ended with Addison have a big bruise and lots of pain. It took everything out of me to not yell at her to stop as I am watching my hubby hold down my precious baby as she repeatedly used the needle to search for a vain. She ended up using the finger prick on her foot and squeezed out enough blood for the test. Justin then took Addison back for the chest x-ray. She did not have to use the awful contraption that they usually use on infants. Instead Justin was able to hold her on the table.
An hour after we entered the ER we had no answers. Addison's fever dropped down to 101.2 but she was miserable. She was crying out of hunger, exhaustion and I believe pain. The doctor finally came in after 90 minutes of waiting not so patiently. He told us the chest x-ray did show some pneumonia but more importantly the blood test was not good. Her infectious white cell count was over 38,000 and showed abnormal cells. He went on to explain a typical infection would be around 18,000. However Addison has been on antibiotics for over 5 days. He diagnosed her with leukocytosis (a white blood cell count (the leukocyte count) above the normal range in the blood). He then told us Addison was going to be transported to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. The hospital is the best in the city and the only place we would want her to be. Unfortunately, the hospital is over an hour from our house.
Once we arrived in the hospital we were taken the the fourth floor. There were 3 nurses waiting for us. They rushed us into room 2, between a baby in an isolated room and another baby who was alone in her room. Addison was changed out of her clothes, and a full work up was done on her. We were asked dozens of questions regarding her illness, overall health and developmental milestones. Addison was taken to the procedure room to get more blood drawn and an IV put in. While she was gone a nurse went over some basic room orientation and hospital information. Most of which I could not focus on as every child I would hear cry made my heart heavier and heavier. Finally I heard my baby screaming. A different nurse was bringing her back to me after a failed IV attempt. They were able to get the blood they needed for their lab work.
Once the lab work came back the doctor on call came in. He explained her white cell counts were above 37,000. The Children's hospital had a pathologist present who was able to read the test results. This gave the on call doctor many more answers then what we were given at our local hospital. He explained that although there are unusual cells present, they are not cancerous. He said her atypical cells were the result of stress from fighting a bad infection. He did express concern that her antibiotics were not fighting the infection so we needed to take a stronger approach. He ordered a strong antibiotics to be given to her in her leg. I cannot remember the name of it at this time. After she got the shot, she was miserable and made sure we were all aware of it. It was after 2am so the reaction was expected. Her fever kept spiking all night.She did get a solid 2 hours of sleep before a nurse came in the check vitals.
On Sunday morning the new on call doctor ordered a viral test to be able to diagnose what caused the infection(s). She also suggested another round of antibiotics to be administered in her other leg. The viral test came back positive for Adenovirus. This is a very common virus that can range in severity from mild cold to serious pneumonia. Addison's reaction was somewhere in the middle of what it could have been. The doctor believes she had two infections. One that started last weekend (around the 15th) and one that started last Friday the 21st. This means our 10-14 day of healing really should start on the 21st. Addison will go back to her doctor early next week. We are hoping she has recovered and can return to normal baby stuff. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment