A Weekend Trip...to the Children's Hospital
I would never have guessed that our first visit to the Children's Hospital would be for a non CF reason. I thought surely that day would come only if she cultured a bad bug like Pseudomonas that required IV antibiotic treatment, or if she had a blockage/GI issue.
Friday we picked Sienna up early from daycare with a 101 fever. Not usually a big deal, but she was noticeably irritable and fussy so we gave her some Motrin. I figured it was just caused by cutting a few new teeth. We put her to bed early and she slept a solid 12 hours. Unfortunately, when she got up Saturday, she was feeling worse and her fever was up to 102. She ate a little in the morning, but not much. She was clearly not herself.
We needed to meet a painter at our new house (I'll post about the new house soon!), so we decided we would all go as she would probably just sleep in the car...which she did. As the day went on, she began crying if she tried eating or drinking and eventually just started refusing everything. Her drooling became excessive and we realized she wasn't swallowing, just letting saliva pool in her mouth. She got really glassy eyed and tired and just wanted to be held so we called the on call nurse line at her Pediatrician's office. Filling the triage nurse in, she suggested we go get Sienna looked at.
I'm not sure if anyone has heard of the "July effect", if not you should Google it. Once you read about it, you'll understand my complete fear bringing her to the hospital that day.
We checked into Levine Children's Hospital around 4:30 pm, where Sienna had a fever of 104.1. I put a mask on her as soon as we got there, hoping she wouldn't pick up something worse than whatever it was she was fighting (you know, like C Diff or MRSA). We sat in triage where we stripped her down to her diaper and took some vitals. Since she refused to take anything by mouth, we had to use a Tylenol suppository (ew!) to help with her fever. We got to a room shortly thereafter.
The next few hours were a bit of a blur. They were upsetting, tiring and stressful. The first person we saw was a new resident physician...someone who just came out of medical school. While I get that "learning on the job" is just as necessary for recent med school grads as it is in any other profession, it's hard to be a worried parent working with someone so green. Sienna became hysterical if anyone came near her, so it was hard for the resident to evaluate her. Because of this, the resident felt that a "full work up" was necessary; which consisted of an in and out catheter to get a urine sample (to rule out UTI), IV line placed to draw blood and give fluids, and a chest x ray ("just because she has CF"). She told us we would likely be admitted.
No parent should have to watch their child go through this. To watch them be held down, in pain, screaming and looking to you to help them. Joe and I tried to soothe her as they used the in and out catheter and placed the IV line. With her crying and the lights overhead, Joe got a good look down her throat and saw tons of white spots. That's all it took for us to realize the catheter wasn't needed, the blood work wasn't needed, the chest x-ray wasn't needed, being admitted wasn't needed. She had a virus. Something along the lines of strep throat. Her throat hurt which is why she wasn't swallowing. The attendee then came in and we told him about the white spots. He took one look and confirmed she had a virus which just needed to run its course and she would be fine. She needed some pain medicine and popsicles; not an x-ray and "full work up". Since the IV line was already placed and her urine showed mild dehydration, we put her on a bag of fluids as she slept. The attendee said he would discharge us if she took fluids orally to show that she didn't need the IV. Child Life stopped by our room to see if we needed anything and they helped us track down some milk. Joe washed out her bottle from that day and filled it with milk and she drank a whole 2 ounces like a champ. We got our discharge paperwork shortly after!
I also want to add in here, that while we should trust our doctors and nurses and specialists, we should also make sure we are standing up for our children, asking questions, and fully understanding the situation at hand. When the resident physician wanted to order an x-ray "just because she has CF," it didn't sit right with me. She had zero respiratory symptoms. I know Sienna is going to be subjected to frequent x-rays because of her CF; annually at the minimum, and I don't want her to have more than what's absolutely necessary to keep her healthy. When the attending physician came in because the resident told him I was questioning the x-ray, he told me my concern was valid and conceded the x-ray in this instance probably wasn't needed.
What an experience. It's been almost a week now and she has slowly bounced back to her bubbly self. She's eating and drinking and playing and laughing. The only reminder of last weekend are her poor bruised hands where they placed the IV (failed attempt on one hand, successful on the other).
And if I look at the silver lining in all of this...at least she got a good lung workout that day.
*Disclaimer - I'm not in the medical field, so apologies for the misuse of any medical related terms! :)
Friday we picked Sienna up early from daycare with a 101 fever. Not usually a big deal, but she was noticeably irritable and fussy so we gave her some Motrin. I figured it was just caused by cutting a few new teeth. We put her to bed early and she slept a solid 12 hours. Unfortunately, when she got up Saturday, she was feeling worse and her fever was up to 102. She ate a little in the morning, but not much. She was clearly not herself.
 |
| Cuddling on the couch |
We needed to meet a painter at our new house (I'll post about the new house soon!), so we decided we would all go as she would probably just sleep in the car...which she did. As the day went on, she began crying if she tried eating or drinking and eventually just started refusing everything. Her drooling became excessive and we realized she wasn't swallowing, just letting saliva pool in her mouth. She got really glassy eyed and tired and just wanted to be held so we called the on call nurse line at her Pediatrician's office. Filling the triage nurse in, she suggested we go get Sienna looked at.
I'm not sure if anyone has heard of the "July effect", if not you should Google it. Once you read about it, you'll understand my complete fear bringing her to the hospital that day.
We checked into Levine Children's Hospital around 4:30 pm, where Sienna had a fever of 104.1. I put a mask on her as soon as we got there, hoping she wouldn't pick up something worse than whatever it was she was fighting (you know, like C Diff or MRSA). We sat in triage where we stripped her down to her diaper and took some vitals. Since she refused to take anything by mouth, we had to use a Tylenol suppository (ew!) to help with her fever. We got to a room shortly thereafter.
The next few hours were a bit of a blur. They were upsetting, tiring and stressful. The first person we saw was a new resident physician...someone who just came out of medical school. While I get that "learning on the job" is just as necessary for recent med school grads as it is in any other profession, it's hard to be a worried parent working with someone so green. Sienna became hysterical if anyone came near her, so it was hard for the resident to evaluate her. Because of this, the resident felt that a "full work up" was necessary; which consisted of an in and out catheter to get a urine sample (to rule out UTI), IV line placed to draw blood and give fluids, and a chest x ray ("just because she has CF"). She told us we would likely be admitted.
No parent should have to watch their child go through this. To watch them be held down, in pain, screaming and looking to you to help them. Joe and I tried to soothe her as they used the in and out catheter and placed the IV line. With her crying and the lights overhead, Joe got a good look down her throat and saw tons of white spots. That's all it took for us to realize the catheter wasn't needed, the blood work wasn't needed, the chest x-ray wasn't needed, being admitted wasn't needed. She had a virus. Something along the lines of strep throat. Her throat hurt which is why she wasn't swallowing. The attendee then came in and we told him about the white spots. He took one look and confirmed she had a virus which just needed to run its course and she would be fine. She needed some pain medicine and popsicles; not an x-ray and "full work up". Since the IV line was already placed and her urine showed mild dehydration, we put her on a bag of fluids as she slept. The attendee said he would discharge us if she took fluids orally to show that she didn't need the IV. Child Life stopped by our room to see if we needed anything and they helped us track down some milk. Joe washed out her bottle from that day and filled it with milk and she drank a whole 2 ounces like a champ. We got our discharge paperwork shortly after!
 |
| Getting some fluids |
I also want to add in here, that while we should trust our doctors and nurses and specialists, we should also make sure we are standing up for our children, asking questions, and fully understanding the situation at hand. When the resident physician wanted to order an x-ray "just because she has CF," it didn't sit right with me. She had zero respiratory symptoms. I know Sienna is going to be subjected to frequent x-rays because of her CF; annually at the minimum, and I don't want her to have more than what's absolutely necessary to keep her healthy. When the attending physician came in because the resident told him I was questioning the x-ray, he told me my concern was valid and conceded the x-ray in this instance probably wasn't needed.
What an experience. It's been almost a week now and she has slowly bounced back to her bubbly self. She's eating and drinking and playing and laughing. The only reminder of last weekend are her poor bruised hands where they placed the IV (failed attempt on one hand, successful on the other).
And if I look at the silver lining in all of this...at least she got a good lung workout that day.
 |
| Back to normal! |
*Disclaimer - I'm not in the medical field, so apologies for the misuse of any medical related terms! :)
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