We are home…
We got home late tuesday evening but have had a strange few days… I am in the process of writing our stay out and will publish it soon…
Still in the hospital…
We have been in the hospital since last friday (the 22nd) and should be here for a few more days…
The official diagnosis: Hydronephrosis/Pyonephrosis caused by a ureterovesical blocage. She had a nephrostomy tube inserted two days ago to drain her kidney… a few more days in the hospital and we’ll head back home to wait for more tests to check her kidney function and eventually surgery.
I will update more soon…
Another update…
Willa’s fever is still here…
After she vomited one time too many during the night from Monday to Tuesday I could no longer sleep and decided to just get up, take a shower and head to the ER at the Montreal Children’s hospital. I left my house at 4:30 and was there by 5:30, bypassing traffic and arriving in an empty waiting room.
When we arrived she didn’t have fever but we were seen shortly after and her overall look got the attention of the doctor. I explained the last few weeks and what had already been done and then was handed over to the next doctor as it was the shift change. The same tests were ordered, blood, urine and x-ray blood tests. As we went in for the blood tezt her fever spiked and they recorded it at 39.6 under her arm (so 40.1C or 104f) seeing that it can come and go suddenly.
We waited for the results and waited for her to pee for the urine test and when she wasn’t doing so after a few hours they cathed her for just a sec to get just enough urine out… I hated to put her through that…. Especially because after a few hours of waiting for the results the tests came back mostly negative, or at least showing the same problems as they were showing nearly two weeks ago… Her body is fighting off some type of infection and there is evidence of inflammation somewhere but they have no clue what it is.
The good thing though is that with breast milk alone she has stayed hydrated and though her iron is slightly low she is not anemic and is actually doing quite well in that way for a child who had stopped eating and drinking.
The doctor asked us to get a followup with our pediatrician soon and was happy to hear that I had already scheduled an appointment for thursday. He printed off her results to bring to him and we left. When I was just leaving the parking lot the doctor called me on my cell because he had thought of a possible bone infection which would not be visible on the tests and told me to mention it to the local pediatrician if the fever persists.
Yesterday, he called again, just to see how she was doing, wondering if she was complaining of any pain and making sure that we still had an appointment scheduled today. I have never had an ER doc follow up before…. I still don’t know what to think of it…
So we continue to wait… For the next appointment, for more questions, for maybe more tests with the hope that the fever will break and leave and that we will never have an explanation…
It's back….
My blog is being neglected..
Wilhelmina is sick…. again… and we have been focused on her. On friday night she started to vomit and the fever is back and she is still losing weight. We have another appointment with the pediatrician but the system here is slow and it hard to get their attention and it is seriously taking it’s toll on all of us. Luckily, Simon is on vacation but with her being sick there isn’t much relaxing and enjoying going on.
I feel defeated, I want to get her help, I want the fever to go away, I want her to smile more, I want her to start eating again, I don’t want to see her ribs anymore, I want her to start gaining weight not losing it.. I want my little girl back healthy and happy.
Having a sick child is one of the hardest parts of being a parent…
Beaches, red sands, jelly fish, scary haunts and fireworks…
We headed onto the longest bridge in the world and arrived in PEI mid-afternoon…
After 4 nights in the rain and days that didn’t let things dry we we tired, damp and weary of the next nights to come. We headed in to the campground as the clouds darkened above and kept on eyeing motels on the way, checking out the prices advertised on the signs… we were ready to pay a bit more for a dry roof if ever the rain did not let up and the campground was not to our liking. I had chosen the campground weeks before based on reviews I had seen on the internet and we called to make reservations then. I choose a location looking at the website while I talked on the phone and took a space that looked like it was close to the beach and in the trees.
As we approached the campground the sea of white motor homes and trailers almost made us turn away. From the road it was depressing. My gut told me to keep going though and as we headed to our camping spot, I became excited..
The spot we got was not only near the beach but it was in an alcove of trees, with no other site near and the dunes and ocean right in front of us. It was beautiful…. and then the sun came out… and it was even better.
We took the tent out and laid it down in the sun to dry off before putting it back up and headed to the beach to to put our feet in the ocean…
What an amazing view… the sand, the beach,the dunes, the ocean…
We headed back to the tent to eat and then headed off to bed with Wilhelmina. As the boys came back to the tent after brushing their teeth the rain started again but it just didn’t feel as dreary as it had in Fundy… I fell asleep only to wake up suddenly as Wilhelmina stirred, made a strange sound and then threw up right next to me…
I got up bright and early with an amazing view of the lobster boats coming back full… (we heard the going out way before the sun was out) and headed to the Laundromat with an overflowing bag…
I came back to check on things at the camp and brought Simon a coffee from the coffee shop above the Laundromat… Willa was feverish and had thrown up again and the boys were gone to the beach…
When I got back from the laundromat again, Willa was sleeping on Simon and when she woke up we gave her a bath in the dish container and she seemed much better…
We brought her to the beach to join her brothers… it didn’t take too long for her to be walking around in the sand and looking better… making sure however to not let the water touch her feet..
The kids played on the beach as we watched and joined in… A family that was there pointed out that the Jellyfish were in early this year and then we started to notice them… the boys stayed close to the beach after that and I sought them out as the water was relatively calm and I found them fascinating… As I took pictures I captured one capturing something if its own…
(Lion’s Mane Jellyfish)
In the afternoon we headed to the nearest town for a late lunch and to look around a bit. I LOVE how seafood is on the menu at any fast food place and not only is there, but it is good 🙂
We looked in the travel guide for some things to do and a place called “The Toy Factory” caught our eye… Khéna had been looking for a certain toy so we thought we could check it out and it would also give us a chance to look at a bit more scenery… we didn’t find the toy he was looking for but The Toy Factory is not your ordinary toy store. They have a lot of educational toys and puzzles and the well known wooden toys but they also have a wood shop in the back where they make their own and where the kids can go watch the process. Not only that, but kids can also make their own toys. They can choose a wand or a car/truck and then assemble it and can either keep (buy) it for a reasonable price, or it will go on the shelves for someone else to buy. They also burn what ever you want into it…
Colin made a wand for himself and for Wilhelmina… while Khéna made a truck…
PEI is so beautiful..
Lupins grow wild everywhere…
Neat rows of Potatoes growing in red earth in Cavendish…
and crumbling dunes on endless beaches…
The kids played in the Campground Park, had a Hay ride and then we headed to the beach for a few more minutes while Simon built the fire for supper and we had a beautiful sunset before heading to bed…
The next day we headed back to Kensington, this time for a much awaited trip to the Haunted Mansion we had seen while travelling the first day we arrived. The Haunted Mansion is tudor style house that has been transfored into an amazing walkthrough haunted house… the first floor is more on the scary side and though the boys went through quickly, they wanted to return… the second floor has a weird and whimsical horror feel to it which was fun and the basement is like being taken back in time and walking in a dark london alley.
When the walkthrough is done, you head into the water gardens… a serene garden with fountains and ponds and streams, with a walkway in the trees, and slides that go underground…
Then there were rides with unlimited access… and ducks for Wilhelmina to look at… A lot of fun and really something for everyone…
The next day we headed back to Kensington for an early lunch before heading out for the day… The food at the Island Stone Pub is worth the mention… Seriously, it was some of the best food I have eaten in a restaurant… ever!
I had a Salmon Tartare entrée with the Fish and Chips and Simon had Potato Cigars and the Nachos which were made with thickly cut Kettle chips, homemade salsa and cheese and the boys had pasta in a butter sauce with garlic toast… all of it was delicious!
Our next stop was Charlottetown , the province’s capital… One thing about PEI is that it is small… you would think that crossing nearly a third of the province would take a bit of time but it is only 48km (30 miles) from Kensington to Charlottetown and only takes about 35min.
In Charlottetown we visited another cool toy store called Owl’s Hollow and the went to Cow’s Creamery for some yummy ice cream and then we headed to Cavendish to visit the Ripely Odditorium…
(Pieces of the Berlin Wall)
More Oddities
Being our last day there I stopped to get some lobster on the way back to the campground (yep… takeout lobster) and then when we got back we started to pack and get ready to leave in the morning…
We had the gift of one last beautiful sunset before we headed to bed…
In the morning we got up bright and early, packed up the tent and headed out wanting to grab some breakfast on the road. It was Canada day… and well, as you may know, but we had seem to have forgotten is that everything is pretty much closed for Canada day… but we found a Timmies in Summerside and headed back to the Confederation Bridge..
From PEI, we headed to Fredericton, which is about a 4 hour drive and headed to the Hotel where we were going to stay for the night. The boys got to swim in the Hotel pool and I got a bit of hot tub time before we headed out to downtown Fredericton to see the Canada day Celebrations.
One thing I remember from living out west when I was a child was that Canada Day was a big celebration and was tons of fun. In Nelson there would be a big party at Lakeside park and a bonfire on the beach with a cake large enough to feed everyone there. Living here in Quebec, Canada Day is pretty tame. It is a day off for most and not much of a celebration at all… It was really fun to have little glimpses into what it still is for the rest of canada and Fredericton was no exception. Live Music, tons of people, local food stands and then the the big wait for the Fireworks. My kids had never seen Fireworks before and we had a front row seat on the edge of the water to watch them and they were pretty good.
In the morning we left Fredericton at around 11am and started on our long journey home. Wilhemina got sick again on the way which made the the trek a bit harder but we made good time and arrived at home before dark and then melted into our bed early…
It is a trip that I will remember always and I will be wanting to head back to PEI again one day and stay for longer… it is so beautiful and the people are so friendly and I could definitely even see ourselves living there one day…
Places we stayed: Twin Shores Campground, Darnley, PEI
Places we visited: Town of Kensington, The Toy Factory in New Glasgow, The Haunted Mansion, Cow’s Creamery in Charlottetown, Rustico Bay Wool sweater Company (got a beautiful wool sweater from there), Fredericton NB