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…

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…

My next post for the other half of the trip is on hiatus right now… Wilhelmina is not feeling well and my mind has been on her…

The first night we got to PEI Wilhelmina threw up during the night and then again in the morning and was a bit feverish. We went on the beach a bit later and she started feeling a bit better but was still a bit clingy… we didn’t think much of it and just hoped that it wouldn’t spread to the other kids.. the next few days were the same though her apetite wasn’t very normal and she was eating less than usual. Her being sick though I didn’t think much of it..

When we headed back home on Saturday, her fever spiked again and she was back to throwing up.. Let me get this straight, I am not scared of fevers… I don’t like when my kids have fevers but I do see them as beneficial and truly believe that reducing a fever just prolongs the illness. However, we were 1/3 of the way home and still had about 7-8 hours of driving to do and happened to have stopped for lunch with a pharmacy a few feet away, so I decided to get something to help bring the fever down and make the journey home a bit more comfortable… I don’t regret it at all. We got home and the fever was still there but she was able to sleep most of the journey comfortably.

On Sunday she was still a bit feverish and clingy but again was looking better and by Monday I thought we were in the clear… her apetite still hadn’t returned and she hadn’t eaten for 2 days but was nursing a lot and still peeing and pooping normally though it was getting a bit more yellowish as she was just nursing…

On tuesday and wednesday the fever came back with a vengeance and she spent her days nursing and sleeping on me… I was starting to get worried but then she started feeling better again and Thursday we had another good day. Again clingy and not eating but she was back to playing and acting normal… but then on Friday it came back and it was enough…

I called the nurses line and then our family doctor in Montreal and both said to head to the hospital… so I called Simon to ask him to head home early.

I left the house around 3pm on Friday and headed to the ER, it was packed but not full and the nurse told me that they usually  try to put kids between two others so I sat down and waited… and waited… and waited…. 11 hours later I got called in… yep… I got there at about 3:30pm and only got called in to the consultation room at about 2:30am and then I waited again in there room until the doctor came and saw us. She did not have a high fever while we were there but the 10 days of on and off fever and not haven’t eaten in a week got the doctor’s attention. He ordered a blood test, urine test and chest Xray…

The lab technician came in for the blood test and  Wilhelmina didn’t even flinch when she pricked her finger. As the technician milked the finger for blood Wilhelmina started the close her eyes. She was sleepy, shy and just wanted to stay cuddled. Her blood coagulated too quickly though so she needed to prick her finger three times in all and by the third time, Wilhelmina was actually giving her her hand and was starting to fall asleep.

the Xray was another story… the cold machine and needing to be away from my arms was a bit harder but she did it quickly and was contented the minute she was back in my arms.

Then it was back to waiting…

At about 5:30 the results were in but came back mostly negative, except for a high blood cell count. The bag they had put on her to catch urine didn’t catch a thing but the doctor insisted on getting a urine sample to make sure it was not a UTI or something that could be seen in the urine. They were talking about catheterizing her but then I asked if I could just try to get her to pee and catch it. Of course the automatic toilets scared her because they kept flushing when she moved so I asked them if they had a container and finally they gave me a sterile bowl which she then promptly peed into.

Another wait and we were finally called back into the consultation room at 6:30 and I nodded off as we waited another hour.

At 7:30am, 16  hours after walking into the ER the doctor cam in to say that the only thing they found was that high white cell count and that it was a sign her body was fighting something but they would like to know what as the length of time the fever had been on and off was worrisome. He had called the hospital paediatrician and she wanted to see us to try to find out more but only the next day (today, sunday) and the hospital would call us to tell us when to come in…

So we headed home with no answers, battered and sore from a sleepless night.

We slept a few hours and she was feeling slightly better again and then the fever came back and made her miserable for the night… she woke up often crying for both of us and nursed constantly.

This morning the fever is gone again and she is acting much more normal and I actually convinced her to eat a few tsp of apple sauce. For more than a week she would gag when she looked at food and refused to have any food even near her… even the things that she usually loves. She is not a big girl to begin with so even though she is nursing tons, not eating was definately affecting her and she was losing weight enough that it started to show. Hopefully her eating a bit again is a sign that she is finally on the mend… it definitely feels great to see her feeling better as we wait for the hospital to call…

of course… more waiting…

eta: so… I wasn’t getting a call so i decided to call and see what was up… the ped came in the morning for a few minutes and then left and wouldn’t be back. The nurse called her and she said that I should call her office monday morning and she will see me there at that time… of course then when I called the secretary said she was not taking new patients…

I guess the moral is… if you are worried about your child, don’t just think twice about bringing them in… think many more times then that..