The ER trip before Christmas

Let's face it. Kids get sick. It is inevitable. The many levels of sickness that strike children can make even the most mentally stable of parents lose it on occasion. Such is the case of a recent trip to the ER with my sick 4 year old in tow.


The events leading up to it started about a week prior. My baby girl started getting fever, we'd dose her up on Motrin, it would go away. All would be fine for half a day then BOOM, higher fever, chills, vomiting, etc. Sounded to me like a simple stomach bug, if such a thing were that simple. A few days of the up and down fever, vomiting, refusing to eat were wearing thin on my husband and I as we were bewildered as to what was making her so ill. Could it be flu? Viral infection? We thought she had finally gotten over whatever it was last Saturday but all of a sudden that afternoon she spiked a sudden fever of 104.5 and looked so gaunt and pale, she hadn't eaten anything of substance in days and had nothing but water and apple juice, in which she vomited up. She cried when she used the bathroom and that set off a light bulb...a UTI!!! It had to be it. My baby had one of the most painful infections that can ever strike a female. I had one last year and it was so awful. I can't imagine the pain my baby girl was enduring, and had endured for several days! I felt like such a failure as a parent that I didn't recognize the symptoms of a UTI. I quickly gathered her in my arms, threw a blanket on her and whisked her off to a local hospital. In retrospect I should have gone to the larger, more updated one but I digress, in my confusion I went to the smaller hospital which was a few miles closer. My first impression wasn't good. My baby was shaking in the blanket and very upset, and the admitting clerk or whatever she was had to be the rudest human being I've ever encountered in this area. She just glared at me and said, 'what's the problem?' Um bitch I have a sick kid in my arms! Dismissing that thought I blurted out "my problem right now is your attitude but the REASON I came in is because my daughter is sick!' I sensed a slight roll of her eyes but I didn't care, my child is sick and I'm a parent on the edge...I could have KILLED at that moment without nary a regret. If this person was the kind of employee this hospital wanted, attitude and all, then I was in for a rough visit. I'll have to admit they were quite efficient as we were in triage within 10 minutes....they were a bit nicer in there and the ER doctor on call was fair, barely understandable with his accent, but he wasn't rude like the idiot in admitting.



The nurse however was fantastic, and I'm positive I had seen her somewhere else, but this being podunk you see everyone at least 10 times on a daily basis *shrug* and then the IV needle went in Lauren's arm. I flinched...I hate needles...and I've had my share of IVs in me and I didn't want this for my child but I knew it was necessary. They calmly prepped her arm and I stood by her to try to get her attention away from the giant invasive needle and then it went in her little arm, and she did nothing! Lauren didn't flinch, didn't blink, didn't wince, cry, scream or moan...she was a trooper!!! She kept looking at me and I guess she figured as long as I was there she would be all right. They took 4 vials of blood before putting in the IV to replenish lost fluid. After they got the IV in and taped down to her arm that's when she complained a little. She winced a bit but she was so brave! She looked at the IV, then me, and then she said "Mom don't let them take blood ok?' and I had to laugh because they had already done it without her looking. I told her the nurse already did and they were going to make her feel better. I had told the nurse my suspicion that she had a UTI and we finally got her up to use the bathroom and there was no denying it from her sample...poor thing she had so much bacteria in her pee you could tell something was wrong!


The nurse came in and said it was in fact, a very severe UTI and if it had progressed much longer it would have started to affect her kidneys and that's when it could have been much much worse. So we were to be admitted for that night. I quickly made arrangements to have my shift covered at work and prepared for a long night in the hospital away from my family, but you couldn't have torn me away from my daughter's side. Thankfully we had a private room, and thanks to recent renovations it looked quite nice. Her bed was much more comfortable than the one in the ER and she didn't complain at all. The nurses couldnt' have been any nicer. They were the sweetest people I've ever seen. I quickly forgot (until now that is) about the idiot down in admitting and focused my attention on getting my daughter well. They gave her more medicine and quickly got antibiotics going in her IV. Thanks to a local organization called Bears for BooBoos she was given a purple monkey to keep, and she loves that purple monkey! The nurses gave me a recliner so I could attempt to sleep in and brought water and apple juice for Lauren, but we couldn't get her to eat anything. Lauren was so tired it was after midnight before she fell asleep. After a quick phone call to check on the kids and talk to hubby, I settled next to her in the recliner but it was hard to sleep. Hospitals aren't exactly The Ritz, and I was so worried for my baby because she still spiked fevers and was rather sluggish.


The nurses came in round the clock it seemed to check her vitals and to give her oral meds to keep her fever down. All she wanted was water. This scenario proved all too familiar as I had spent two days with my youngest son Colton in the hospital when he had Croup...he was only 2, ironically I was pregnant with Lauren at the time...poor Colton's O2 levels were a dangerous 63% and he was bluish/purple. It was scary and I couldn't help but think of that stressful time of watching one of my babies sick and in obvious pain and stress. Just more gray hair to add to the mix but as parents we will do whatever it takes to get our babies well! We are resilient like that, we just need extra Prozac later on!


This visit was different however as Christmas was only a few days away and it wasn't clear if Lauren was going to be able to be home in time. My older daughter was visibly upset before I left to take Lauren to the hospital so I knew it was stressing the other kids out too. I think I had an epiphany of sorts. Thinking of all the 'stuff' I bought the kids and I kept worrying that it wasn't enough presents, mainly because I couldn't find a certain video game console and I had run out of time to find my oldest an iPod Nano. All that didn't matter anymore, as I had a child in the hospital, and looking around I wasn't the only one with other families' loved ones in the hospital apart from them. So what if my kids didn't get a gazillion presents. Being a cohesive family unit was more important and this was what I focused on. All the rest is just stuff. I did what I could for my kids and if they didn't like it well tough! Their sister is more important and besides I told them there weren't to touch a single present until Lauren comes home, even if that meant she came home AFTER Christmas.


Sunday morning came and Lauren seemed ok but still very pale and she needed more antibiotics. Mike came up there with the other kids to visit her and to take over for a while. Lauren didn't want me to go and it was so hard to leave but I knew she'd be ok for a while without me as I had to do some last minute gift wrapping. The kids seemed ok while at home but to me it wasn't right because I knew Lauren wasn't there. I tried to keep my mind occupied with Christmas and getting things done and finally I couldn't take it anymore so I gathered the kids to go back up to the hospital. I was prepared this time taking additional clothing for myself and Lauren and a few stuffed animals that she loves. Mike went back home after noon with the kids and we thought we were over the worst of it...but Sunday mid-afternoon Lauren spiked yet another high fever of almost 105! I was so concerned and she was so groggy and out of it, and she hadn't eaten in days! The nurse started her on another bag of antibiotics. So another night in the hospital it was, and I made yet more arrangements for someone to cover my shift at work. I didn't care how many hours I was losing I was where I needed to be. They gave her a double dose of meds to settle her down and she finally went to sleep. For me however, sleep wasn't that easy to achieve in a recliner, but everytime I finally dosed off the nurse would come in to check her vitals. I must have looked like a train wreck of sorts.


Monday morning Lauren was fever free and asking to eat breakfast, a good sign! Our family doctor was making rounds and checked her out, she was alert, talkative and she wanted to draw and read and do puzzles. After three bags of antibiotics, countless teaspoons of Tylenol and Motrin and a few awkward trips to the bathroom with me pushing the IV cart.....we were FINALLY given the green light to take her home! I had brought her favorite McDonalds food, a cheeseburger, to the hospital and she chowed down on it like it was food of the Gods...it was Christmas Eve and my baby was coming home so there wasn't anything else I could have asked for! With an antibiotic prescription in hand we finally bid the hospital farewell and went home. It was great! I finished wrapping gifts, got her meds filled out and she took them like a champ. I know they didn't taste all that great but I'm sure she didn't want the alternative, a trip back to the hospital, and that gave her good reason to take her meds.


We were all so tired, me especially, and I was SO thankful that I could sleep in my own bed after two days in a recliner ending up sleeping in a pretzel position. The kids went to bed around 10PM Christmas Eve and it was nice getting all the presents under and around the tree, the two shiny new bikes perfectly placed, all the trinkets and candies in the stockings...it was bliss. I didn't take my kids for granted and it seemed like what I was doing I should be thankful for, and I was. I can't imagine the many families that had kids in the hospital on Christmas, and I felt for them...it's not a fun place to be. Being a parent means dealing with worry and stress but in the end it is the most rewarding 'job' anyone could ever ask for.


The kids let us sleep in for once this Christmas....ok a few times I could hear them shuffling about, getting positions on the couch and falling back to sleep. Lauren seemed to sleep best, never once getting out of bed, she rarely does anyway, but she slept so good that night. I was just happy to be in my comfy bed again! Christmas morning the kids were buzzing with excitment but I had to make coffee first before present opening began. I was just so happy to have all my kids there and feeling better. Lauren ran another fever but it was 100.5 or so and that was good. As long as her fevers were going down she didn't need to go back. A dose of Motrin and antibiotics kept her going. She's been fever free since Christmas so that is a good sign. She is eating like a champ again, even though she has a persistent cough, but to me her being home and playing and laughing and occasionally screaming at her siblings is the best sound in the whole wide world.


Hug your kids, tell them you love them...you never know what will happen next! While we were in the hospital we watched Wizard of Oz and I'll never forget that one cheesy line at the end .... 'a heart is not judged by how much you love, but how much you are loved by others'. I couldn't have said it better myself!


And there is no place like home.

Until next time....