Frustrated and concerned.

tinofapples

My son (4 this September) had a high temperature last Sunday night/Monday morning, my wife stayed at home with him Monday and he began complaining of a sore neck also. I brought him to our GP Tuesday morning who ran checks on him and said he'd like me to bring him to hospital just to be safe. He said he was 99% sure it wasn't Meningitis but couldn't take chances. We did that where they carried out blood tests and the likes. They said they were gonna keep him in for 1/2 nights and have since said they think it's a bacterial infection and his lymph nodes in his neck and swollen as a result. He's been changed from one antibiotic to a stronger one as of Thursday morning and we seem no closer to a solution, his temperature is still rising every couple of hours and the swollen gland so little signs of reducing. It's Saturday morning now and I haven't seen much improvement.

He's been a great little fella, hasn't complained about having an IV hanging from each arm but the week has taken it's toll on him.

Obviously we have no choice but to trust the Doctors prognosis and treatments but my god it's hard watching him. I'm a sucker for sick kids program's on TV (It really tugs at my heart) and God love those who have to watch their kids in this situation long-term.

Out of curiosity have any of you hear experienced similar situations with your loved ones ?

cyning

That sounds so tough: my little girl is sick quite frequently and sometimes it just takes time: but once she starts to get better she bounces back quickly. It's hard when you're stuck in the hospital, but best place for them. Hope he's better soon.

tinofapples

24 hours later the swelling seems to be reducing but temperature rising is still an issue. Doctor said yesterday afternoon that he "thinks" they are winning the battle against the bacterial infection but feels he may have picked up a viral infection in the meantime, that they cannot do anything about only give time. He also mentioned that he might be able to go home tomorrow as in today, no thanks Doc, not until we feel he's ready.

galljga1

tinofapples wrote: »

24 hours later the swelling seems to be reducing but temperature rising is still an issue. Doctor said yesterday afternoon that he "thinks" they are winning the battle against the bacterial infection but feels he may have picked up a viral infection in the meantime, that they cannot do anything about only give time. He also mentioned that he might be able to go home tomorrow as in today, no thanks Doc, not until we feel he's ready.

Poor little guy. My daughter spent 4 nights in hospital with similar. Very frustrating. Everything nefarious was ruled out. In the end, she simply got better and we are none the wiser as to the cause. Its the best place to have him apart from the adult pull out chair beds.

tinofapples

After Doctors visit this morning, there sending him for a chest x-ray Adult chair beds ? Sounds not to bad compared to sleeping on foam mattresses on the floor even though 2/3 of the other beds in the 4 bed room are empty !!

It really does sound like hit and miss and I'm not having a go at medics but this is my child, the most important thing in my life and this is 2015.

LegacyUser

I haven't had that sort of an experience exactly, but after my baby was born I was in hospital for nearly 2 weeks - first week for her, second for me.

Without getting into the specifics, it was a totally and completely frustrating experience. Nobody told me anything much about what they were doing (apart from "tests"). Somebody was prescribing her antibiotics, but we never saw a doctor. Nobody told us when we might be able to go home. By the end of week 1, we had a row with the nursing staff, which was the only way we ended up seeing a doctor. When I had to come back in the next week, a similar thing happened. Nobody told me on admittance that I had a temperature and an infection (I felt fairly ok, so didn't know myself). I only found out by accident when the midwife was talking to a consultant just before I went in for a procedure at the end of the week. Somebody was prescribing me antibiotics but it took another row with nursing staff before a doctor gave us 10 minutes of their precious time.

We are relatively intelligent people and all we wanted was some information on what was wrong with our baby, and then, what exactly was wrong with me. Anything. And some idea of what their plan was, what the options were and why they were doing what they were doing.

I utterly and totally understand your frustration. I cannot fault the medical staff in their care, but the absolute and complete lack of information - passing between the staff and ourselves, and the doctors vs the nurses and the paediatricians vs the nurses vs ourselves - made me want to scream at them. Wtf is wrong with just TELLING people what is going on?? The best advice I can give you is to hang on in there and pester them with questions. Keep asking why. Why, why, why. Follow it up by more questions -"if it's negative, what happens then", "what are you looking for exactly", "will he need more antibiotics for that", "what exactly does that involve". I'm sorry if I sound aggressive but honestly there just didn't seem to be the any other way to get any morsel of information from any of them. Don't just take their statement at face value, ask questions - I found they will not offer information voluntarily as a general rule. I understand that some things just take time, and sometimes they aren't entirely sure what they are dealing with, but I'd rather know that than know nothing, myself.

Best of luck with it all, and don't be afraid to ask them for more detail. They are not Gods, and as you say, it's your son.Fingers are crossed for you.

LegacyUser

That sounds like mumps to me, high fever and swollen glands are hallmarks of it. Has been tested for it? I would be asking for lab to check if it is

tinofapples

I brought my son home from Crumlin Hospital yesterday evening. Last Sunday evening he had a lumbar puncture done to rule out Meningitis once and for all. The results of that indicated not Meningitis, on Monday he was changed to Immunoglobin and Aspirin and he began to perk up Tuesday, the swelling of the glands were also reducing at this stage, I didn't want to be counting my chickens before they hatched and sure enough the temperature rose again over night. However he showed progress again Wednesday although a rash developed all over his body. Crumlin had been spoken about for a number of days now and finally Thursday they finally decided it was time to travel. The purpose of Crumlin was for tests on his heart, we had them tests Friday morning and they all showed up okay.

The long and the short of it was he displayed 3/4 symptoms of what is known as Kawasaki disease/infection, one of the dangers of this infection is damage to the arteries hence the scan of the heart. He'll be having the heart scan again in 4 weeks to ensure everything is okay.

So in summary, high temperature, swollen lymph node glands (in this case neck) a rash, peeling of the finger/toe tips could mean your child has Kawasaki infection, this thread might be of use to someone someday.

xzanti

Wow that's a lot for your family to go through.. can only imagine the worry and panic waiting on those test results.

I hope he gets better soon OP

Cunning Stunt

I don't have any advice I am afraid, just wanted to wish your little boy all the best and am hoping that all goes well with the next scan.

tinofapples

xzanti wrote: »

Wow that's a lot for your family to go through.. can only imagine the worry and panic waiting on those test results.

I hope he gets better soon OP

I don't have any advice I am afraid, just wanted to wish your little boy all the best and am hoping that all goes well with the next scan.

It was frightening but thankfully all looks well and hopefully there will be no complications. I heard the parents of of Dylan Finglas on 2FM this morning and needless to say it touched a nerve with me. My heart goes out to people who don't be as lucky as us with their precious little people.

http://www.savingdylan.com/dylans-story