So about 9 days ago, I noticed Adelle looked a little pale and she had some dark circles under her eyes. Later I felt her and realized she was burning up - her temp was 104.2 that first time. It dipped down to 100 with tylenol but constantly came back up to that 104 mark. She was rubbing her head, pulling her hair, and pushing on her ears so I was positive she had an ear infection.
On Monday I took her to a nearby walkin clinic. The doctor looked in her ears - said "well mom, she's probably coming down with something - but she doesn't have an EI just keep giving her tylenol. Bring her in to the Stollery if you get really concerned. Now I thought that was weird advice. First of all - she had had this for 5 days - and she was "coming down with something?" And seriously? The stollery? I think of that place as a place for seriously ill kids. My nephew Ty, has been in and out of the stollery since he was born. They've saved his life many many times. Why would I take her to the Stollery when she was so close the the grey nuns (if I needed an er). In my mind that doctor was a quack and obviously missed the ear infection that Adelle obviously had.
Wednesday - after spending Tuesday night with my in-laws they were both EXTREMELY concerned about Adelle. She miserably hung out with the family, not eating (and in my in-law's house that must mean you're dying ;)), and not to mention those dark circle's under a 10 month old's eyes are very disconcerting. They thought I should try again. I got an appointment with one of the doctor's in my doctor's clinic. She was wonderful. She agreed that this fever was strange and after thoroughly going over her could find nothing that *should* be causing this infection. Her ears were clean, Adelle has no sign of congestion anywhere. Teething? I asked? Teething shouldn't cause a fever this high was her response. She gave us a requisition form to do a bag urine test, as well as we made a follow up appointment for Saturday. I did the urine test immediately so we could get those results back right away. We wondered if she had a bladder infection. This doctor as well told me that I should have a low threshold when it comes to bringing her back in to see her or even to take her to the Stollery. I questioned her on that and she said that the Stollery would be the best place for her to get the tests she needed so to go there rather than grey nuns.
Thursday - I went to Ladies Morning out and left Adelle with Brian's mom. When I came to pick her up, my MIL (motherinlaw) told me in a very no nonsense way that I was coming in, eating lunch, packing up Adelle, and taking her to the hospital. I questioned her - has anything changed? Why do you think so? Her response was that Adelle was very obviously sick - her fever seemed particularly high, and she just *knew* that something was seriously wrong with her. Now my in laws are not people who jump to the doctor, or over-react to health issues. So I gave it some thought but still wasn't convinced we should rush off to the hospital. I packed the kids up and came home. Coming in the door holding Adelle I felt her head - she was wet with sweat and her eye's didn't look right. I gave her a dose of tylenol and grabbed the themometer. 105.8. Woah...ok so that was serious in my books. I called Brian and asked what he thought and then called my MIL to let her know I'd be dropping Hunter off on my way to the Stollery.
Stollery (1pm) - in triage the nurse was a "peach" if guys can be "peaches". He sarcastically commented on the doctors that said to bring her in. Only because they are too useless to do anything I believe he said. Which made me feel like a loser for bringing her in. I'm already super sensitive to that. Her fever had come down upon check in - only 101 so I'm not sure they took me very seriously. In fact - nope. We waited and waited and waited and waited. They warned me peds was moving slow but it wasn't until 6:30pm when they opened "the tent" that Adelle finally got a bed and a doctor. Fortunately Brian showed up after he was done work so that I could have a break from holding her.
6:30pm - They take us through an outside door that's blocked off like a tunnel. We walked into...a tent. It was like something out of a MASH show. Except everything was white not green. They pumped heat into the tent and other than it being breezy, it was pretty warm. They made a make shift room for us out of dividers since they needed to strip Adelle. They were very concerned and took us very seriously. The pediatrician and nurse with us in the tent were awesome. They inserted a catheter into Adelle to get another urine sample, did a swab, and drew blood. They examined her very carefully, and brought in another doctor for a consult. I was actually surprised at how often a nurse or doctor checked back in with us. I've been in these situations where you wait for hours without word from the doctors.
10pm - The doctor breaks the news to us that they will need to admit her. We'd be looking at at least 48 hours. The initial results of her blood work was that her white cell count was high, and there were some other markers that showed there is an infection somewhere that they just can't find. Her hemoglobin is really low and they aren't quite sure why - typically that happens when children drink too much milk, but she hasn't had much other than breastmilk. Brian leaves to go get some overnight things and to bring home at least one of the two vehicles.
11pm - In an actual room, but still in the pediatric emerge, Adelle is looked over by two more doctors and 2 residents. (again no Ear Infection - shocking lol). They are mystified, and one comments as she's taking our history that she usually has more written down and has half a clue where she's going. I'm feeling like we are in our own version of the tv show House - without dr. house. Adelle having been given tylenol is actually looking more like herself than she has. She's responding to people anyway and charming in her own way as she claps her hands and says "yeah yeah". The doctor wondered about discharging her then - but then again didn't like the color of her face and eyes. After back and forth consults with other doctors we finally are told we'll be staying.
1:30 - we were sent for a chest xray then settled in for a long night. Nurses in and out of the room, no proper bed for Adelle - other than the gurney - not safe for a 10 month old. We took turns on the gurney and in a big arm chair. Not sure which one was better lol.
4am - I woke up from a doze and noticed Adelle was really hot again. The nurse came back in and took her vitals. She was back up to 103ish.
9am - we had the senior pediatrician do a physical on her, and say she'd be back with a team later. They came shortly after, and we discussed things it "wasn't". It's not meningitis or Kawasaki disease. However again it's very disconcerting to not know what is causing it. The only worrisome thing he said was that it *could* be an auto immune disease where her body is turning on itself. In the end we decided that Adelle would be more comfortable at home. They can't do anything for her right now that we can't do and she'll rest better. Not to mention - it's my birthday on Sunday and selfishly I didn't really want to spend it in the hospital. So armed with the senior pediatrician's pager, cell phone, and information on when to bring her back we came home. If something different happens this weekend we're back in sooner. If she is the same on Monday we go back in to be admitted and more tests.
She had a good nap just now - but just woke up to a fever of 104.7 We're settling in for a long night. Thank you for all of you who are praying. We sure apprecaite it. Please pray she either gets better on her own or that the doctors will have wisdom where to go next. They are reluctant to do invasive testing on her when they don't really know where to look. And I'm glad for that - so now we just wait...
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11 years ago
