Another night in the ER.......

After such a fun-filled week the last two weeks, it looks like we haven't quite seen the end of things yet!

Saturday evening Sweet-pea came down with a high fever. I decided not to wait around on it and be sent to the ER this time, so I got her dressed and headed to Kidmed (our pediatric emergency care center). My experience there was horrid! When we arrived there were several people waiting to be seen. I signed her in, filled out paperwork and then sat holding her on my lap. She was lethargic and her cheeks were bright red. After about 15 minutes of waiting she starts coughing, and then vomits all over the front of my shirt and the chunks fall into my lap. I look over and the girl at the desk next to me was just staring in shock. She finally points over at the wall and tells me I can get up and grab a bag off the wall for her to vomit in again. I kinda give her this look like "do you not see the huge puddle of vomit that is in my lap?" and she finally jumps up and grabs me a bag. She brings me some wipes and as I begin to wipe the vomit from Sweet-pea she says "oh don't wipe her with that it will break her skin out!!" I then gather the chunks off my lap and make my way to the bathroom...Sweet-pea in one arm, my bags in the other. I cleaned myself off, and changed Sweet-pea into a hospital gown. When I came out I saw a nurse standing there talking to someone having a personal conversation. By this time Sweet-pea was just MISERABLE! She didn't want me to hold her, but she didn't want me to put her down, and she just didn't know what to do except cry! So I just scoop her up, cradle her and rock her while pacing around the floor. 15 minutes later she is burning up! I ask the lady at the desk how much longer before they can get us back and she says, "it should only be one to two more minutes" at that point I was thinking if they didn't come soon I might need to just go to the ER. A minute later the nurse who had been in her long personal conversation, turns to me and says, "is this Sweet-pea, I came out here for her but I just got to talking" I WAS LIVID!!!!

Once we got back to be seen they looked in her ears and said she had a double ear infection, swollen throat, and temp of 104.7. They took a strep test, flu test, and x-rays. Strep and flu came back negative, but the x-ray showed pneumonia in her right lung. The doctor wanted to give her an IV, take some blood work, and then re-test her pulse-ox levels to see where we were. If they were high numbers on her blood work or her pulse-ox was low she wanted to send her to the hospital.

The nurse came in to do the IV and take blood work. Sweet-pea started screaming the minute they came in the door! I lied down beside her and held her while they straightened her arm to put in the IV. The nurse put the needle in without a line attached to catch her blood that started pouring out all over the place. Once she finally got the line screwed on she took the blood they needed. Once she was finished she took off the tube put it next to her, and bumped the IV tearing it from Sweet-pea's arm!! Blood sprayed all over my face, glasses, and Sweet-pea's face; it was all over the bed, the floor and the nurse! It was terrible!!

I decided since she had screamed enough I didn't want them to put the IV back in unless her blood work came back showing she was dehydrated, which it did not. The doctor gave us some antibiotics, a shot, and sent us on our way!

Monday she woke up with a low temperature of 99. By 11:30 it hit 104.7 and we gave her motrin. 3:00 it was 104.7 so we gave her tylenol, and at 3:30 it went up to 105.0! We called the pediatrician and they immediately told us to come in! We got there around 4pm. Again they checked her ears...which were fine- no infection. Checked her throat...which she had tonsillitis...and rechecked for flu and strep which was still negative. They re-drew her blood and said there was no change from what they drew Saturday which was not good! So they sent us to the ER to get fluids and be watched over night.

We got to the ER around 7pm. They were packed! We did not get called back until around 11:30. They even had hospital beds with patients in the hallways it was so packed!! They did more blood work, and another x-ray her temp was 104.7, and she was inconsolable! I spent 7 hours holding a fussy, crying baby! They gave her an IV, and told us the x-rays did show she still had pneumonia. They wanted to see what her blood work showed and was told it would take about an hour. THREE hours later, they finally came and told us she looked like she was hydrated, they would change her medication and send her home.

While we were there, the little boy next to us had a seizure. His mom asked us how high Sweet-pea's fever had gotten and when we told her 105, she said her son's hit 108 and that he had a seizure. They told her that it was from a stomach bug and he has had them ever since!! When we were about to leave we asked the doctor, "at what point is her fever dangerous?" She says, "no fever is dangerous" Nathan asked, "so 105-108 isn't dangerous?" she says "OH no ones body can have a fever of 108- you are talking heat stroke then, so don't worry about that!" At this point that doctor lost all credibility to me! I have a worried mother telling me her son just had a fever of 108 and then a doctor telling me that 108 wont happen! Not really making a lot of sense to me!

Don't get me wrong I am BEYOND happy we are able to spend the night at home tonight; however, I DO NOT want to spend another night or morning in the ER because they did not think she was sick enough to keep overnight! Since when is 105 NOT a high temperature? I've been told all my life that 104 is dangerous but 105 is extremely dangerous, but now I'm being told no temperature is dangerous?

I guess this is why we get paranoid parents! We get told one thing by one physician and another thing by another physician. They can all go to school at the same exact medical school and still all come out saying totally different things!! Who do you listen to? And if you do just go by your parental instinct and decide they do need medical help...who is going to give that help if they think they aren't "sick enough?" Then you become a "paranoid parent" and you get the semi-laugh from the doctors because they think you are over-reacting? The last time I didn't overreact my daughter ended up coughing up blood!

So for now we are at home. Pumpkin has a fever of 103.7, Hobble-bobble 101.3, and Sweet-pea's is broken for now. We will have a visit to the pediatrician this afternoon and then hope we can do the rest of their medical care at home!