So Lars and I spent most of Wednesday at the hospital. Thanks to my friends Sandi and Alisha I didn't have to worry about what the other kids were doing. What a weird, long day. Lars was feverish and crying all afternoon as he and I shuffled between rooms and tests. After a lot of praying, a CT scan, blood draws, a catheter for urinalysis (so sad and frustrating because Lars is uncircumcised and the very nice nurse had a hard time getting the catheter in...wish I could rewind that scenario and speak up more), a whole lot of temperature taking and ear checking, and ultimately the spinal tap finale, the doctors told me they didn't know what was wrong but they knew it wasn't meningitis and the blood tests showed it was probably a virus. Fortunately Matt got off work early and was there with us for the spinal tap.
A little before 4, when Theo was due to get off the bus, Matt went home to get him and Ida while Lars and I waited for the results of all the tests to roll in. At 6 p.m. we checked out of the hospital. I loaded Lars back into the car and he immediately fell asleep. By the time we got home his fontanelle had collapsed back to a normal shape. By the next morning his fever was gone.
Who knows what would have happened and I certainly can't go back and change anything. I don't think I would do much differently as far as the choice to go to the hospital. I did learn a lot from the experience including that, regardless of the doctors' insistence that his vaccinations for 7 diseases plus a flu shot all at once had nothing to do with the fever and bulging fontanelle, I am going to spread his shots out next time. Also I want to be more vocal in general--like anytime a doctor or nurse wants to retract his foreskin. Or like when I brought Lars back in for his followup visit the next day and he was alert, cool-headed, happy, but the doctor still insisted on taking a rectal temperature which of course made him scream. (99 degrees.) Things like that make me remember that I am the mom and I am entitled to some guidance on what I want to do to or have done to my kids. Obviously something like getting a temperature wasn't a big deal overall and Lars was fine but I'm glad I had this realization now instead of during something more serious. I am pretty good about speaking up and asking questions during my own medical care but sometimes I am less confident about my kids'.
At any rate he is fine and I am glad. Can't wait for those hospital bills to start rolling in but it could be so much worse. As I type this at 6 a.m. he is sitting on the floor next to me quietly playing with whatever he can reach. He is such a blessing. So happy that he is healthy too.
11 comments:
Nothing quite so scary as a sick baby. We too are happy he is well and healthy.
One thing I know for sure, when you have a sick baby and you spend time with tests and at the hospital, you always come away from the the experience knowing what you would be doing differently in the next situation (if there is one!)
I am so sorry that little Lars was so sick and that you ended up doing all those tests. I know what you mean about not doing much differently about the hospital. We have to make choices on what is in front of us at the time- you usually don't know until afterwards if a sickness is serious or not.
Spinal taps and babies are hard. We did that with one of ours and it is so hard on the baby and you!
Glad all it well now! A healthy baby is such a wonderful thing!
Of course I have things to say about this! :) But mostly what I always wish when I hear people lament their hospital experiences is that the doctors were better at explaining WHY they are doing the things they are doing. For example, a bulging fontanelle in a child of that age is meningitis until proven otherwise, especially if the kid had a recent bacterial infection. Every doctor has that kid they sent home who didn't look too sick despite their fussiness or low-grade fever or bulging fontanelle, and ended up with a blood infection and on life support a day later; that's why you were sent to the hospital. And that's also why they take a rectal temp - it's the only method doctors really trust to tell you if the child has a fever. I'm not sure every doctor would have made that decision if the baby really looked ok, though.
And unfortunately most nurses haven't seen too many uncircumcised babies...sorry about that one on behalf of the medical profession. But babies' foreskins, as I'm sure you know, should not ever be retracted until they separate on their own, and even then I'm pretty sure it's usually not necessary even to catheterize the baby. Unfortunately I bet most ER docs and nurses don't know that...here's a tool to help educate them, if you ever want it again, if you haven't seen this already. It's the AAP guidelines for parents, and states clearly that foreskins should never be forcibly retracted: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/bathing-skin-care/pages/Care-for-an-Uncircumcised-Penis.aspx
I'm glad we have you Alex!! I know doctors do things for very good reasons - and some are better than others about explaining them. I am always intimidated by hospitals - mainly because I don't trust my judgment - even though I'm often correct about about health and medical issues.
I'm just glad little Lars is okay - we did an ER trip with Eliza as a baby - we thought she was having an appendicitis attack - she was about 3 - and it turned out to be a very large bubble of gas in her abdomen. Same thing happened with our son Harry when he was about 4. The most benign conditions can look terrible!
Poor baby! I am glad he is ok now. Dealing with doctors is so tricky. We go to them because they have knowledge we do not, but sometimes it feels like they are just checkng off boxes in order to cover themselves against possible liability, and not really doing what is the best, most practical thing. The more I know, the more I realize that parents really do have to advocate for their kids when it comes to medical things. And I agree about the vaccinations. I believe in vaccinating, but I like the spread-out schedule for shots better.
Pretty scary times ... I am glad that things turned out well. Now on to some housekeeping issues ... one should be getting in and cleaning their foreskin on a daily basis ...so other than the fact that it is a stranger it should not be a big deal. Now inserting a catheter ... that is where the red flags should go up and you should decide on whether or not to go with the doctor's advice or perchance rely on some of that God gifted inspiration.
From what I understand, an intact foreskin needs to be cleaned regularly after it has retracted on its own. That's like maybe age 3 or so. Before that, forcibly retracting it can introduce infection at the least.
About the rectal temp, that was the next day at my ped's office. Lars had been cool and mostly back to normal since the night before. As I said, I learned a lot from this experience and am glad it wasn't at too great a cost. The ER doc and nurse and techs were really great. Kept me from completely breaking down. The catheter, I would not allow again. So much going on that day. I was not thinking clearly although my intuition was saying leave the foreskin alone.
I know Hannah is loving this discussion.
Thank you to everyone for your insights and thoughts, I love it. It was such a weird day.
I have certainly enjoyed learning about retractable foreskin.
But in all seriousness so glad Lars is okay. What a scary day that must have been for you.
Moses isn't circumcised either so this is all good info for me. I'm very happy to learn that Lars is okay after all the drama. It must have broken your heart not to know how to help him.
I had no idea any of this happened when I saw you. So scary! Glad he is OK. Question...kind of personal. Why is he not circumcised? Just wondering. Chandler isn't either, but we couldn't for medical reasons which will require surgery later...So good to see you. Will you email me your phone number? I was thinking about calling you the other day...weird I know, but it was about the dairy sensitivity and I wanted to ask you more questions! I'm suspicious Chandler has one. Anyway, I wish we could have talked more or stayed longer...but so glad to see you and Matt and the kids even for just a little bit. :)
Poor little lamb! That is so scary. I am so glad he is ok!
Post a Comment