Wow I have so much to catch up on!
So I have been such a slacker when it comes to my little blog. I have to apologize and repent and hope that you will forgive me for not keeping up with it. I am going to try to do better.
Now I want to share a few things that have gone on just in the last couple of weeks.
CARSON HAS KAWASAKI DISEASE
What is Kawasaki Disease? Well that is what I would have said last week but it is funny how fast you learn about something when you have to deal with it. If you want to read about it here is a link http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/kawasaki.html
My poor baby has this disease and just got home from the hospital because of it.
It all started on July 9th, with Carson waking up with a fever and not feeling well. Of course, I thought he was just coming down with another ear infection and started the Tylenol. Good thing he was getting tubes put in his ears on Friday. I called the doctor and told them that I was sure he had another infection and asked if they still thought we could do the surgery. The nurse said it would be fine that the surgery would let all the infection out and he would be fine.
Thursday July 10th
Carson and I went to his pre-operation appointment. He was still running a pretty good fever of 101 degrees and not feeling real great. The nurse still said he would be fine for the surgery but I had my doubts. I asked her if the doctor needed to see him and she said no it would be fine and that they would see us in the morning.
I spent the rest of the day trying to keep Carson happy he was cranky and sick.
Friday July 11th
We got Carson up at 6:00a.m. to get to the hospital for surgery. It was scheduled for 7:00a.m. Carson's woke up really hot. When we got to the hospital they finally called us back and the doctor took one look at Carson and told us that he could not do the surgery. He had a fever of 102.7 degrees. They sent us home with a prescription for the ear infection. I filled it and gave Carson his first dose. He was not a happy boy all day, and I could not get the fever to come down. He also seemed to be holding his neck like it hurt He would not even turn his head. And he was just getting worse and worse. By 2:00p.m. I decided that he needed to go see his pediatrician something was really wrong with my baby. They told me to come in at 4:00p.m. Carson's doctor after looking at him found that his lymph nodes on his neck were enlarged and that they were very painful. He also was concerned about the fever not coming down. He told us that he thought we should put him in the hospital to get some tests done, so we headed to the hospital. There they did some blood work, started Carson on an I.V. and did a catheter to get a sterile urine sample.
The doctor came at about 7:00p.m. and told us that the blood work showed that his liver enzymes were high. He said he wanted to get a C.T. scan done on Carson's neck and also do a spinal tap, but he said he would feel better sending Carson to the local Children's hospital to have it done rather than having it done at the hospital we were currently at. Jared and I felt good about the transfer, so Carson got to ride in an ambulance to get to the other hospital. He loved the ambulance ride. He had a big smile on his face and kept pointing at everything around him. We made it to the other hospital and they put us in the E.R. We talked with the doctors there and they did the C.T. scan on Carson's neck. Then they did an X-ray of his chest and of his stomach. We spent all night in the E.R. Finally, Saturday morning they decided to keep Carson for some more testing and put us in a room up on the third floor.
Saturday July 12th
Saturday after we got to our room they talked to us about what they thought might be going on with Carson. They thought he might have mono, or hepatitis, they had decided it was not spinal meningitis. Or Lymphydis because of his C.T. scan it was swollen but there was no infection in the lymph nodes. They told us that we would be there for a few days because the tests for mono and hepatitis take a few days to come back. So we settled in with Carson and just tried to make the poor little guy comfortable. He was still running a high fever and his eyes were really red and he just acted like every time he moved he was in tons of pain. Saturday night in the middle of the night they ended up having to do another I.V., because his one in his foot was not working anymore, so they did one in his hand. It is so hard to watch your child suffer and have them look at you like, "why don't you stop this person from hurting me?" It broke my heart.
I.V. in arm and leg
Sunday July 13th
We were still dealing with a very sick little boy and had no answers as to what was wrong. Carson's blood work showed that his liver was doing a little bit better. That was good news. They decided to start I.V. antibiotics so that if it was a bacterial infection we could start getting rid of it. The other kids came to see Carson, and it was the first time I had seen him smile for days. They all felt really bad for Carson and started to cry. The nurse sent up a person whose job is to talk to the kids about what is going on with Carson and answer all of their questions, I think this made them feel better. They made Carson some really cute signs and gave him loves and went home. Carson was still having the same problems. He also would not eat at all, and when he did he would throw it up. I was so worried about him. His I.V. went out on him again so we had to put it in the other hand so he was on his forth I.V. Poor baby.
Monday July 14th
Some of the tests came back but they were negative. We still had a few more to wait for. We spent the day trying to help Carson feel better and keep his fever from getting too high. He also started breaking out in a really bad rash. It would come and go.
Trying to keep the fever down.
They told us that they thought Carson had Kawasaki Disease or that it was Mono his symptoms matched both. They told us that they wanted to do an echo-cardiogram on his heart. In order to do this they would have to sedate him. We said that was fine and so they went ahead with the test. They also wanted to put in a feeding tube so that Carson would be getting some nutrition. The echo-cardiogram came back normal to which we are very grateful. We also found out that his test for mono came back normal so the doctor said he was sure it was Kawasaki Disease, and he wanted to treat Carson for it.
Tuesday July 15th
We started the treatment for the Kawasaki Disease they do I.V. gamma globulin. It took all day to give it to him, they didn't want him to have any reactions to it. They also gave him his first dose of aspirin. I think the aspirin is what made me the most nervous about the treatment, I just had to hope it would not cause Reye Syndrome, and that it would help him get better from the Kawasaki, and keep his heart healthy and strong.
Carson hanging out with a tired mom and dad.
Wednesday July 16th
Carson seemed to be feeling so much better. He still was not eating but his fever was coming down and he was getting cranky because he was bored not because he felt so sick. I could not believe how fast the treatment was working. They told us it would be alright to let Carson go to the play room, since what he had was not contagious. He loved the play room, we had a hard time getting him to leave. The other kids came up for a few hours, and played with him too. He had such a better day. That night we took him for a wagon ride to calm him down for night time. He loved that, we went all over the hospital. It was nice to have him feeling a little bit better.
Carson playing with his feeding tube
Thursday July 17th
Carson had not had a fever for at least twenty four hours it was gone and he was doing really well. You could tell he still hurt in his joints but he was feeling tons better. They took out his feeding tube, and told us that if he ate and drank all day that they would let us go home at 4:00p.m. We were so happy that we would get to go home. Well Carson was still not to thrilled about eating or drinking anything. We gave him popsicles, slushes, juice, water, chocolate milk anything we could think of. We even got him ice cream. He would take little bits here and there but not much. We started to get used to the fact that we would probably be there one more night. I was ready to come home but wanted to do what was best for Carson. At 4:00p.m. they said he had barely made it to where he was hydrated enough for the day but not to make it through the night, but they left it up to us whether or not to take him home. They said if we thought we could keep him hydrated through the night they would let us go. We felt like he would eat better at home so we decided to take him home. We went home at about 8:00p.m. He was so happy to be home and the kids were so happy to have us home. Now we will just watch him and he will have to take aspirin for six weeks and we go back in August for another echo-cardiogram.
We just want to thank everyone who helped with he kids and to those who are praying for our little man. We could feel the prayers and we know that they were answered.
Now I want to share a few things that have gone on just in the last couple of weeks.
CARSON HAS KAWASAKI DISEASE
What is Kawasaki Disease? Well that is what I would have said last week but it is funny how fast you learn about something when you have to deal with it. If you want to read about it here is a link http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/kawasaki.html
My poor baby has this disease and just got home from the hospital because of it.
It all started on July 9th, with Carson waking up with a fever and not feeling well. Of course, I thought he was just coming down with another ear infection and started the Tylenol. Good thing he was getting tubes put in his ears on Friday. I called the doctor and told them that I was sure he had another infection and asked if they still thought we could do the surgery. The nurse said it would be fine that the surgery would let all the infection out and he would be fine.
Thursday July 10th
Carson and I went to his pre-operation appointment. He was still running a pretty good fever of 101 degrees and not feeling real great. The nurse still said he would be fine for the surgery but I had my doubts. I asked her if the doctor needed to see him and she said no it would be fine and that they would see us in the morning.
I spent the rest of the day trying to keep Carson happy he was cranky and sick.
Friday July 11th
We got Carson up at 6:00a.m. to get to the hospital for surgery. It was scheduled for 7:00a.m. Carson's woke up really hot. When we got to the hospital they finally called us back and the doctor took one look at Carson and told us that he could not do the surgery. He had a fever of 102.7 degrees. They sent us home with a prescription for the ear infection. I filled it and gave Carson his first dose. He was not a happy boy all day, and I could not get the fever to come down. He also seemed to be holding his neck like it hurt He would not even turn his head. And he was just getting worse and worse. By 2:00p.m. I decided that he needed to go see his pediatrician something was really wrong with my baby. They told me to come in at 4:00p.m. Carson's doctor after looking at him found that his lymph nodes on his neck were enlarged and that they were very painful. He also was concerned about the fever not coming down. He told us that he thought we should put him in the hospital to get some tests done, so we headed to the hospital. There they did some blood work, started Carson on an I.V. and did a catheter to get a sterile urine sample.
The doctor came at about 7:00p.m. and told us that the blood work showed that his liver enzymes were high. He said he wanted to get a C.T. scan done on Carson's neck and also do a spinal tap, but he said he would feel better sending Carson to the local Children's hospital to have it done rather than having it done at the hospital we were currently at. Jared and I felt good about the transfer, so Carson got to ride in an ambulance to get to the other hospital. He loved the ambulance ride. He had a big smile on his face and kept pointing at everything around him. We made it to the other hospital and they put us in the E.R. We talked with the doctors there and they did the C.T. scan on Carson's neck. Then they did an X-ray of his chest and of his stomach. We spent all night in the E.R. Finally, Saturday morning they decided to keep Carson for some more testing and put us in a room up on the third floor.
Saturday July 12th
Saturday after we got to our room they talked to us about what they thought might be going on with Carson. They thought he might have mono, or hepatitis, they had decided it was not spinal meningitis. Or Lymphydis because of his C.T. scan it was swollen but there was no infection in the lymph nodes. They told us that we would be there for a few days because the tests for mono and hepatitis take a few days to come back. So we settled in with Carson and just tried to make the poor little guy comfortable. He was still running a high fever and his eyes were really red and he just acted like every time he moved he was in tons of pain. Saturday night in the middle of the night they ended up having to do another I.V., because his one in his foot was not working anymore, so they did one in his hand. It is so hard to watch your child suffer and have them look at you like, "why don't you stop this person from hurting me?" It broke my heart.
I.V. in arm and leg
Sunday July 13th
We were still dealing with a very sick little boy and had no answers as to what was wrong. Carson's blood work showed that his liver was doing a little bit better. That was good news. They decided to start I.V. antibiotics so that if it was a bacterial infection we could start getting rid of it. The other kids came to see Carson, and it was the first time I had seen him smile for days. They all felt really bad for Carson and started to cry. The nurse sent up a person whose job is to talk to the kids about what is going on with Carson and answer all of their questions, I think this made them feel better. They made Carson some really cute signs and gave him loves and went home. Carson was still having the same problems. He also would not eat at all, and when he did he would throw it up. I was so worried about him. His I.V. went out on him again so we had to put it in the other hand so he was on his forth I.V. Poor baby.
Monday July 14th
Some of the tests came back but they were negative. We still had a few more to wait for. We spent the day trying to help Carson feel better and keep his fever from getting too high. He also started breaking out in a really bad rash. It would come and go.
Trying to keep the fever down.
They told us that they thought Carson had Kawasaki Disease or that it was Mono his symptoms matched both. They told us that they wanted to do an echo-cardiogram on his heart. In order to do this they would have to sedate him. We said that was fine and so they went ahead with the test. They also wanted to put in a feeding tube so that Carson would be getting some nutrition. The echo-cardiogram came back normal to which we are very grateful. We also found out that his test for mono came back normal so the doctor said he was sure it was Kawasaki Disease, and he wanted to treat Carson for it.
Tuesday July 15th
We started the treatment for the Kawasaki Disease they do I.V. gamma globulin. It took all day to give it to him, they didn't want him to have any reactions to it. They also gave him his first dose of aspirin. I think the aspirin is what made me the most nervous about the treatment, I just had to hope it would not cause Reye Syndrome, and that it would help him get better from the Kawasaki, and keep his heart healthy and strong.
Carson hanging out with a tired mom and dad.
Wednesday July 16th
Carson seemed to be feeling so much better. He still was not eating but his fever was coming down and he was getting cranky because he was bored not because he felt so sick. I could not believe how fast the treatment was working. They told us it would be alright to let Carson go to the play room, since what he had was not contagious. He loved the play room, we had a hard time getting him to leave. The other kids came up for a few hours, and played with him too. He had such a better day. That night we took him for a wagon ride to calm him down for night time. He loved that, we went all over the hospital. It was nice to have him feeling a little bit better.
Carson playing with his feeding tube
Thursday July 17th
Carson had not had a fever for at least twenty four hours it was gone and he was doing really well. You could tell he still hurt in his joints but he was feeling tons better. They took out his feeding tube, and told us that if he ate and drank all day that they would let us go home at 4:00p.m. We were so happy that we would get to go home. Well Carson was still not to thrilled about eating or drinking anything. We gave him popsicles, slushes, juice, water, chocolate milk anything we could think of. We even got him ice cream. He would take little bits here and there but not much. We started to get used to the fact that we would probably be there one more night. I was ready to come home but wanted to do what was best for Carson. At 4:00p.m. they said he had barely made it to where he was hydrated enough for the day but not to make it through the night, but they left it up to us whether or not to take him home. They said if we thought we could keep him hydrated through the night they would let us go. We felt like he would eat better at home so we decided to take him home. We went home at about 8:00p.m. He was so happy to be home and the kids were so happy to have us home. Now we will just watch him and he will have to take aspirin for six weeks and we go back in August for another echo-cardiogram.
We just want to thank everyone who helped with he kids and to those who are praying for our little man. We could feel the prayers and we know that they were answered.
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