Sad, sick, baby.

In about mid May Sam got sick.  He had all the symptoms of an upper respiratory infection including fever.  After about 5 days I took him into the pediatrician (saw a different Dr. since ours was out of town) just to rule out an ear infections.  The doctor confirmed it was a viral respiratory infection and that he would feel better soon.  No antibiotics.  A week later he was still feeling really yucky and had a fever.  I took him back into his pediatrician (our Dr. this time).  James was with us and he had a pretty bad case of hand-foot and mouth (NASTY little sickness... I wish it on NO ONE.) The doctor looked at Sam's throat and determined he also had hand-foot and mouth... poor little thing.  I was told that the fever would last another couple of days.  Five days later Sam was still sick with a fever.  I called the pediatrician to see if I should bring him back in.  I was told that the fever with HF&M could last up to 14 days (great) and not too worry.  It was about this time that Sam's voice started getting hoarse and he stopped eating regularly.  I assumed it was because his throat hurt form HF&M.  about a week later was 14 days since that diagnosis... and he still had a fever.  I was planning to take him in the next day, June 9th.  (for anyone keeping track Sam  had now had a fever for about a month.) That night his fever broke finally!  I was so glad and thought we were over the worst of it.  I had no idea how sick my precious boy really was.  Because I had been with him everyday and I had taken him to the doctor and thought I knew what was ailing him I was not as conscientious as I should have been. Huge red flags I missed were that he was hardly eating anything at this point, was dehydrated, drooling like crazy, snoring loudly and was holding his breath between breaths.   

On June 9th Dave and I went to a fundraising Gala at Thanksgiving point.  Since Sam's fever broke I decided to leave him with Dave's Mom.  On our drive home at about 11:30 PM she called us.  Sam's fever was back with a vengeance and he was holding his breath for WAY too long between breaths.  We picked him up and drove strait to Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC) We were still in our formal Gala clothes which was not comfortable.  We got there at about midnight.  By 3 or 4 am they had run a bunch of tests and his white blood cell count was off the charts.  We were told that it was one of two things.  Either he had an abscess in his neck where infection from one of the illnesses had settled or he had Kawasaki's disease.  We started praying for it to be an abscess.

Sam finally fell asleep after many horrible test (think lots of needles, catheters, tubes etc).

His cute little foot with the oxygen reader on his toe.

The only way to determine if it was an abscess was to get him into the CT scanner and have a look.  So off we went...

He was such a good boy and didn't cry at all when they strapped him in so that he couldn't/wouldn't move.

This made me giggle because he just looks so unimpressed.  He was such a sweet, good baby.

When the CT pictures came back it was confirmed that he had a HUGE abscess in the back of his neck.  It was starting to close off his throat and was probably quite painful.  Hence the not eating and the holding his breath.  Later after seeing the scans our pediatrician, (who was shocked to receive the fax from PCMC) told us in all his years he had never seen this in a baby, ever.  Keep in mind that he was MY pediatrician as a child so that is a lot of years.  He said given the size of the abscess that Sam's airway was closing off and he probably would have stopped breathing altogether sometime that night or soon after.  *Sob*   I think that Sam's fever breaking that day was a blessing because I let my mother in law tend.  Her fresh eyes recognized how sick Sam was and prompted her to tell us to get him to the ER pronto.  I think because I was so used to him being sick I probably would have given him Tylenol and put him to bed.  I cringe and feel like the WORST mother ever writing that but the truth was I had taken him into the Pediatrician twice and called once.  I was told not to worry.  It was also such a slow decline that I honestly didn't recognize how sick he was.  

We were in the ER until about 5:30 am when he was rushed into surgery.  Thankfully someone found me some sweatpants to wear so that I could take off my gown.  It was a quick surgery but still so scary for us.  Dave and I were both so tired and this all happened so fast that that we were not prepared to have our 6 month old in emergency surgery.  We both cried for the 45 minute wait, and cried even harder when the surgeon came to tell us the surgery was a success.  They went through his throat to get to the neck and cut open the abscess, drained it and cleaned it out. They do not stitch up the back of the throat in these cases. They leave the wound into the neck open so that it can continue to drain. It heals and closes on its own within a couple of days.  His surgeon told us that he does about 12 of these surgeries a month.  I am so incredibly thankful that we live so close to a world class children's hospital.  They recognized the problem so quickly and were ready and equipped to do surgery right away.  I love PCMC.  

Sam woke up in recovery in my arms.  Poor little thing just gurgled and cried for a few seconds then would fall asleep again.  He seemed to sleep much better when someone was holding him.  Dave and I took turns for a couple of hours.  We were so tired having been up for well over 24 hours so we called in reinforcements.  Dave's Mom came first and we sent Dave home to rest while my Mom took care of Ella and James.  I fell asleep on the little pull out chair.  Grandma K held him for a few hours.  I tried to take a picture but apparently I had my camera on video.  Grandma L came and relieved Gma. K and held him for a few more hours. 

Sam drooling all over Gma. L after surgery.

He woke up a few hours later and finally managed a little smile.  Oh it made us happy!  The best moment though was when he finally took a bottle.  Seeing him really eat for the first time in days was awesome.

Sam and I stayed in the hospital for the next 3 days while they had him on high doses of IV antibiotics.  Every day he got better and better.  He was snoring and drooling less and less, no more fever and he was eating like a champ!  His breathing was so much better and he was finally able to sleep soundly.

He had fun playing with all his wires.

I loved the teeny-tiny hospital gown they had him in. 

He was definitely happiest when Ella and James came to see him. They loved going with him to the kids playroom. 

Ella in the kids play room at PCMC

Cousin K came to visit and took Sam on a walk.  He looks unhappy but really he was so happy to see her.

We went on lots of walks and he got better and better!

 

Our sweet little boy is a heart breaker... especially when he doesn't feel well.
Poor little thing had such a hard time sucking his fingers with that darn IV. 
 

It was not a fun way to spend the first little bit of summer but we were so glad to have our happy healthy baby back.  During our stay I just cried as I listened to the tiny baby in the room next to Sam's scream and cry all night.  I talked to his mom and he was there having a permanent feeding system implanted in his stomach because he had such terrible digestive issues.  It made me so grateful that Sam's problem was so easily fixed with minimal pain for Sam.  I thank God for modern medicine, wonderful doctors, nurses and hospitals!