June of 2008 was one of the best months of my life. My father and brother had come down to visit, and just happened to land on the days we needed them most. They watched Kaylee so J could be at my side and be there to welcome our second daughter into the world. Alyssa was born a beautiful, healthy little girl at 9lbs 4oz and 21 inches long. The hospital, at that time, let Kaylee come up to see her new baby sister, and she fell in love, a wonderful big sister from the start.
My husband was helping Kaylee in the bathroom, I believe while she was getting ready for bed, when he found a tick that would change my life. He removed it, and we watched for obvious symptoms of Lyme Disease.
That's when our world turned upside down. What should have been time for our entire family to bond with our new baby turned into a nightmare. Kaylee got a fever over 102, so we started giving her Tylenol. Then she got a bluish-purple rash that spread over her entire body, and her fever spiked higher, so J researched tick born illnesses, because we just knew it was something along those lines. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever fit perfectly, so we made an appointment with our pediatrician, Dr. Cooper.
When we got to the appointment, Dr. Cooper did a thorough exam and was his normal, very caring self. We've had other pediatricians before, but he is the kind that you can only hope to find. The look on his face scared me. He knew too. He ordered blood work to confirm, but he knew. We were told to give Motrin, then 4 hours later Tylenol, and 4 hours later Motrin again. This was suppose to keep the fever under control. He said if it didn't or she got worse, call him and take her straight to the ER.
It did get worse. Kaylee's fever was over 105 when we made the call and headed to the hospital. It was a long, painful hour waiting to be called back, watching others get called who weren't in immediate need (like eight year old girl with no fever who wasn't throwing up now, but had been on and off a few days before.) After over an hour, Kaylee got up to check her temperature, which was now 105.4. Brain damage can start at 106. They made us go back out in the lobby and wait some more.
While we were waiting, Alyssa got hungry, and at the time I cared what other people thought about me nursing in public, so I took her to the bathroom to feed her. During that time, Kaylee got called back. When I went back out, they kept telling me not to bring Alyssa back because we didn't know what Kaylee had. I fought enough that they did let me back. They had no right to stop me, and there was no way I was going to be away from my daughter at that point.
They wanted to run all the blood work again, and they wanted to add a spinal tap. They made us leave the room for the tap. I will never forgive myself for letting them force me into the hall while six of them held down my 20 month old baby and did something so painful. We left our tiny baby girl in that room, screaming and fighting with no idea what was happening to her. It took several attempts to get the tap done, and we were finally allowed back in.
Not long after, we were told they were going to release us. The fever was not under control, nothing was fixed. Thankfully, Dr. Cooper had come to the hospital. He told them they would get Kaylee a room, and they would be giving her treatment. Then he came in to explain our choices. There were two medicines we could have them give her. The first would kill anything tick born that was causing the problem, but there was a chance that it could turn her teeth brown. The second wouldn't turn her teeth brown, but there was a chance it wouldn't kill what was making her sick. The blood work hadn't come back yet, so there was no 100% for what she had. His personal opinion, which I trusted my little girl's life to and would again without hesitation, was to go with the first. They came to move Kaylee into her room. Alyssa could not go into the pediatric department, so J held her while I went to see Kaylee before going home with Alyssa for the night.
For the next couple of days, one of us would stay with Alyssa while the other stayed with Kaylee. I pumped so Alyssa could remain exclusively breastfed, and we brought treats in hopes to get Kaylee to eat. By this point, it was almost impossible. Watermelon was our miracle food, because that was the only thing she would eat at all. The one time I remember at least a ghost of a smile that week was when one nurse explained that she had almost called the doctor thinking Kaylee was internally bleeding, then she saw the bowl of watermelon and realized that was what was in the diaper, not blood.
Kaylee got blood tests daily to see how her platelet count was doing. It started out pretty low and dropped for the next three days. Dr. Cooper's set of tests came back negative, but there was no waiver in the diagnosis. We had three additional pediatricians working with us at the hospital, and they were all amazed. As Dr. Cooper put it, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is one of those illnesses you learn about in med school, but never really expect to see. His last case had been over 10 years before, but many doctors will never see it. Her case was very interesting to them.
On day three, with the count getting dangerously low, one of the pediatricians I didn't know came in to talk to me. I remember only bits and pieces of what he said. I remember crying when he told me the count. 'want you to be prepared for internal bleeding...' 'may need a platelet transfusion...' 'considering moving her to the children's hospital in Baltimore...' 'medicine sometimes takes thee days to work, but ...'
She had one more day for her system to turn around. One day before they wanted to move her to a hospital over 3 hours away. We didn't have money for a hotel, so only one of us could go. Alyssa wouldn't be allowed in so I broke down again, knowing I would have to let my baby go lay in a hospital bed dying, and I wouldn't be able to be there with her. I held her like I did every other day. I cried and promised her she would be ok, and cried harder not knowing if I was telling her the truth. J's mom had driven over 8 hours to visit and she had given Kaylee a little stuffed puppy that played a few lines of 'Shining Star' by The Manhattans. Kaylee loved for us to push the button so the little star the doggie was holding would light up and the music would play. I sang to her through my tears, and I prayed even harder than I ever had before in my life. I begged God to help.
Day 4's blood work came back with amazing results! She was fighting, and by the grace of God, she was winning. We weren't out of the wood yet, but this is what they'd been hoping for, what we'd been praying for. She started asking for drinks and took a few bites of food here and there. Her fever was back down, and she had a little strength. For the first time, I believed when I told her she would be ok. My tears were tears of joy rather than fear and helplessness.
Day 5 came back high enough for her to be released. I can't even begin to explain how I felt that day. She still had to take her medicine a couple times a day for the rest of the 10 days, but she would be ok. Almost no pharmacies carry what we needed, but the hospital called around until they found one that did, and we were able to take our sweet little girl home. We were finally able to bond as a family.
Two years later, Dr. Cooper still calls her the amazing little girl and says the ordeal was really something. Two years later, I am still very, very thankful for everything he's done for us. The blood work never actually showed the cause, and most doctors of any type wouldn't have diagnosed and treated like he did. One more day could have killed my daughter. Instead, I have a beautiful, happy, playful three and a half year old. I still have nightmares about it and the song that little puppy played still makes me cry whenever I hear it, but I am so thankful that I also have a little girl that I can hold when I wake up. A little girl that I believe when she puts her arms around me and says, 'Mommy, it's going to be ok.'
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