Some of you may know why we have been MIA for the last week, but for those who don't I will fill you in. It was quite a rough week. Starting the last week of May, Otto was waking up at night and crying out, unable to go back to sleep. He was fussy during the day, he just didn't seem like his normal self. By Tuesday the 3rd we knew something was up so we took him to the doctor. He had had small fevers over the weekend, but they seem consistent to what he goes through when he is teething. Tuesday he did not have a fever. The doctor checked him all out and thought that he was getting his canine teeth which are rumored to be the most painful. She said to keep an eye on him and let her know if anything changed.
Wednesday he developed a fever of 101. so we called the doctor. She said to keep watching him and call if it was worse. At this point he was also starting to not eat very much. By thursday he wasn't feeling better, worse in fact, and we couldn't keep his fever down with medicine so the doctor suggested we take him to the E.R.. Off we went.
They did a lot of blood tests and a full body x-ray, none of which Otto was very happy with. His fever was high there, 102 and he was miserable. They couldn't find anything really wacky and thought it was a nasty virus which they can't really treat. They sent us home and said to bring him back if he wasn't better in two days.
He spent all day on Friday and Saturday morning moaning on the couch and not eating. We knew something was up and took him back to the E.R.. They ran more blood work, did another x-ray and hooked him up to I.V. fluids since he was now getting dehydrated from not eating or drinking hardly anything for a few days now. They also looked in his throat and thought it was a little red so they did a strep culture. His blood work wasn't telling them very much so they thought it would be best to do a spinal tap to check for spinal meningitis. Thank goodnes, that came back negative! Still, they were not sure what was up. They decided to admit him to the hospital and keep him under a close watch. They also started I.V. antibiotics in with his fluids because they thought there might be some kind of infection. His white blood cell count was really high, as well has his sed. rate which measures inflammation in the body.
That night Otto and I shared a hospital bed in the Ped. ward and hoped we would have some answers soon. We had to wait 24 - 48 hours for some of the lab work to come back so they kept us until Monday morning. At that point it got crazy.
After close to 36 hours of fluids and 4 rounds of antibiotics, his blood work had not changed much. Now they were starting to talk about some scary stuff. They mentioned juvenile diabetes and
Kawasaki disease just to name a few. Since this all seemed out of their hands we were referred to a pediatric infectious disease specialist at a larger hospital in the area. They even got us an 11 am apt. Off we went again.
Luckily the fluids and meds had made Otto feel better, even if his counts were still high. He had a great time playing with the pink baby stroller in the waiting room. Pulling it behind him at full speed saying "baby, baby!". Poor doll suffered some head injuries that day.
No lie, within 15 minutes of seeing the doctor he diagnosed Otto with an abscessed infection in his lymph node in his throat. He had it the whole time, but by the time we got to this doctor's office it has swollen to the point where he could feel it immediately, we could even see it. The nurses and doctors all said they can swell in a matter of hours. It must have happened really fast because EVERY one of the MANY doctors that had seem him in the past 48 hours did a gland check and it would have been felt before if it was swollen.
The relief of finally knowing what was wrong with Otto and that it wasn't some crazy disease he would have for the rest of his life made me feel better instantly. The doctor was very good at making us feel better right away. He said the first thing they needed to do was to get a cat scan to see where exactly the growth was. After that he would meet with an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor to discuss surgery.
To do the cat scan they would need to sedate him. They were also going to insert a
PICC while he was asleep for future administration of antibiotics. This would also require an x-ray to make sure the PICC was in the right place. They had a pediatric IV team up to see him within and hour and we were sent down for the sedation and cat scan.
It all happened very quickly. In some ways that was good. We didn't have too much time to get really scared. We were allowed to stay with Otto until he fell asleep. In fact, he fell asleep in my arms and I placed him on the board that goes into the cat scan machine. From there we went to the waiting room while they did the cat scan, placed the PICC and did the x-ray.
As soon as the cat scan pictures were taken the doctor saw them and came to talk to us. He said they were really surprised at how large the abscess was and a bit worried that it was encroaching on his air way. This all went a long way to explain why Otto wasn't eating, he must have had the worst sore throat ever! The doctor felt that the ENT would want to operate that evening since he didn't feel it could wait. They arranged to Otto to be transfered to a room in the Ped. Ward and starting booking an O.R..
It took a couple hours to get us settled upstairs, but no sooner did we get a room and the surgeon came in and said they should start getting Otto ready for surgery. Now it really got scary. This is a routine surgery that they do a lot, but it still carries some major risks. Since you are working so close to major veins, bleeding to death is a concern. As well as permanent nerve damage to the face. Both terrifying thoughts. They also thought they might have to take out a tonsil or adenoid to get to what they needed. Until they got him asleep and could really look, they couldn't tell whether they would be able to do the surgery through his mouth, or if they would have to go through his neck.
This time we were only allowed to stay with Otto until he was ready for surgery but not asleep, they don't want the parents there when they administer the breathing tube. Eric and I were left to go back to his room and wait for the news.
The surgery fortunately went very quickly and within an hour the surgeon came to tell us everything was ok. They didn't have to remove a tonsil or adenoid and were able to go through the mouth. We would be able to see him soon. They removed 8ccs of fluid from his neck. A lot for someone his size. YEAH!!!!! We felt so much better. They were also able to remove his breathing tube in the O.R. so he wouldn't have to be on a ventilator for a few days!
He was still sleepy when we saw him, but he looked just like our little dude. They kept him in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit that night so they could monitor him more closely and give him better medicine for pain. Seeing the PICU made us realize how lucky we were that Otto was ok, and in a week would most likely be able to go home.
By mid morning on tuesday he was transfered back to the regular ped. ward and was starting to get back to his normal self. He ate a lot of jello and pudding the first day but was hungry for more. By that night he had mashed potatoes and mushy chicken stuff. By wednesday he was really feeling better and on thursday they let us come home.
He has to have antibiotics every 8 hours through his PICC line. We have learned how to administer them. It uses a pump which slowly gives him the medicine over 30 minutes. In the hospital he developed a extreme fear of all nurses and doctors, with good reason, but he seems ok with me giving him the meds. As long as we keep him distracted it goes ok. We have to continue that for 18 more days. I will be very glad when that is done. It is a bit scary giving your kid IV drugs that are going right into his heart.
Needless to say this whole experience has made us so grateful for good health and taught us not to take advantage of how lucky we are.
Seeing Otto home and playing with him own toys so happily it the most wonderful thing. I am so glad to have him home, and he seems so glad to be here.
How did he get this you ask. Well, they can never really be sure. Most likely he came in contact with some nasty germs and they settled in his tissue and made themselves at home. The doctors all said they are seeing more and more of this and they aren't sure why. It is a bit scary, especially since it requires such major drugs to kill.
We didn't have the heart to take pictures when he really wasn't feeling well, but here are some shots from wednesday when he was feeling much better.
In these shots you can see the end of the PICC line sticking out of his bandages. This is how his arm will look until the meds are done. We hook the medicine up to the end of that IV you see poking out..
