There will always be things that take you by surprise. I found out quickly at the beginning of this month that the scariest times in life aren’t when you are personally in danger, but when your child’s life may be in danger.
It actually started the last weekend in July, my baby girl said, “I have a really bad headache!” We gave her Tylenol and a cold rag and figured that would correct the problem. Then she threw up, we gave her some medicine for her stomach. We took her to the emergency room because she was also running a fever. (My son and I had just tested positive for Covid so we thought maybe she had it too.)
The ER doctor told me, she tested negative for Covid, Strep, UTI and that they were able to bring her fever down with correct dosing of meds (they gave her both Tylenol and Motrin at the same time!) then they sent us home early in the morning, a little past midnight.
Later that same day, her fever returned with a vengeance, 106.3!!! I had never dealt with such a high fever, I quickly grabbed her and walked her into the shower and ran cool water over her head and body as she cried, knowing that she must be feeling completely miserable. Mom’s Pajamas now completely soaked. We managed to get her fever down to 102, I changed as quick as I could, and then we loaded her back into the car and drove back to the ER. I don’t think we even made it 12 hours at home, before returning her to the ER.
I checked her in and told the lady at registration that I wanted her seen as soon as possible that she now has a high fever of 106, and I wanted her checked for MISc. ( multiple inflammatory syndrome in children) the article I read that lead me to believe this told about an 8 year old girl that had shown symptoms similar to the symptoms my daughter was experiencing. That link is attached below.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/patient-stories/morgan-deitz.html
The ER doctor took blood and checked her for inflammatory markers, they said they were concerned about the markers for her heart so they would be transferring her to Children’s Hospital. Their facility would be better equipped for the tests they would need to run on her. I let my husband know that they would be transporting her by ambulance and that I would ride along with her, and that they would need to go home and pack things for us as we were unsure how long this stay would last.
My husband and 14 year old son rushed home, packed and headed up to the hospital, my daughter and I still waiting for the ambulance to take us to the other hospital. The ER doctor started her on antibiotics and IV, he said that her most recent UA showed that she did have a urinary tract infection. Ok, weird she had no symptoms of a UTI. I was relieved that they may have found the reason for the fever though.
Once they loaded her into the ambulance and I buckled myself in… I took a deep breath and prayed. I prayed for her health and that we would make it there safe. An ambulance moving at 90 miles an hour would make anyone say a few prayers, but I was seriously upset for my child. We made it to Children’s in no time.
Once we were at Children’s, time seemed to stop. We were first wheeled into the ER, they ran an EKG and said her heart looks good but they still wanted to admit her because they wanted to see how her blood panel looked in a few days. My mind was constantly thinking of what could be causing this and how they were going to make her feel better?
The doctors came in and said they would continue the IV antibiotics that were started at the original hospital and that they would continue to do tests. Then there were pokes, lots and lots of pokes. Her veins were being difficult, and the place where they managed to set two IV’s weren’t giving blood like they needed either. They did a chest X-ray, some small spots on lungs, could be pneumonia, could be nothing. Current antibiotics should help. Then an ultrasound of her abdomen, nothing standing out. Then a CT scan of her abdomen, there is an indication of something going on with her kidney. Doctor tells me over the phone “that despite her inflammatory markers, they are leaning more towards pyelonephritis.” I asked “what is that and how do you spell it?” She responds with “kidney infection.” Wait, what? A kidney infection. I’ve had kidney infections, they cause pain in the lower back . It didn’t make sense to me. But after two weeks of antibiotics she improved and the fever had finally dissipated after 7 days on IV antibiotics. Sounds like a serious kidney infection, right?
We still aren’t convinced that it was just a kidney infection, as it doesn’t explain all of her other symptoms, but we are taking her to a specialist soon for her kidney, to make sure they are functioning properly. we are just so grateful that our baby girl was able to start 3rd grade today and that we are back home, safe and sound!
The World in Black and White 