Clarke's Hospitalization

The day after Christmas Clarke came down with a fever in the morning and refused to eat or drink anything. I gave her a dose of Motrin and the fever came down. Grandpop came into town to deliver Christmas gifts and spend some time with us and she was able to play and open presents and have a great time. That afternoon the fever came back. This time I couldn't get it down. It stayed above 103 all night long even with alternating Tylenol and Motrin. She started vomiting also, but not what seemed like a gastro bug. The next morning the fever was down to 101, so I thought she was doing better. Then I took her temp about lunch time and it was 105. That is high enough to even scare a pediatric nurse. So, she bought herself an appointment to the pediatrician. 

Of course being a holiday week, Dr. Dorsey was on vacation! When we got there they thought she looked pretty bad and decided to do some tests to see if they could figure out what was going on. She even got an IV placed and a bolus of fluids along with a dose of an IV antibiotic. The only thing alarming was a high white blood cell count (35,000).  We made an appointment for the next morning and went home, thinking she was better. She was talkative in the car and looked better to me. 

The fever came back several hours later. She looked worse. I called the on call Dr. They told me to hold tight and try to keep the fever down and they'd see us in the morning. 

We went back that morning. When the pediatrician (the one we had talked to the night before) came into our room, she said, "I think we have done all we can do here. We are going to have to send you uptown to the hospital". I agreed. I had felt this coming on. I made sure that we were going to have the right team of doctors taking care of us, and we were on our way. 

When we arrived to the 9th Floor (where I work) we were put into an observation room. There are 4 on our unit and they are for stays that are less than 24 hours. This was a good thing. Based on report, the doctors thought that we would be there for fluids overnight. 

A few hours later we found out that her urine culture was growing bacteria. We wouldn't know what bacteria until 24 more hours, but the antibiotic she was on was sufficient. Well, it turned out to be more than we thought. We were in the hospital for a total of 5 nights. 4 of those nights I was supposed to be working at the hospital. Not in room 9002 with my daughter! They ended up diagnosing her with pyelonephritis (an upper urinary tract or bladder infection). They also found her to have some significant constipation, which most likely led to the infection. She was a sick little girl. 

Here she is after she got her IV and was settled in the first room we were in. Isn't she adorable in the gown?

This must be a couple of days into the stay. She thought that the tray table was one of the coolest things ever. She was able to eat in bed and watch TV from bed. She is giving me a little smirk here because she doesn't want her picture taken. 

This is our last night at the hospital. IV and tubes are out. She is a happy little girl. She got dressed in her own PJs and shoes and went walking the halls with Mommy saying hello to all of my coworkers. 

We were so thankful to be on the floor that I work on at the children's hospital. My coworkers are the best nurses and doctors and I wouldn't have wanted anyone else taking care of my daughter! We got the royal treatment from everyone. I definitely learned a lot from the patients perspective that I had no clue about. This will make me a better nurse. I am so happy that she is better. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and sweet messages.