Meningitis

Day 9 post op and Gabriel has been admitted to the ICU with meningitis.  As if brain surgery doesn't illicit enough fear in a parent, now I have to hear that my child has meningitis. 

The neurosurgeon did a spinal tap to determine which type of meningitis he is battling. I was surprised that the spinal tap is performed in his hospital room.  Andrew stayed in the room and ended up assisting in case Gabriel woke up.  

If he has bacterial meningitis, he will be in the hospital for 14-21 days depending on which bacteria it is.  It takes 48-72 hours to run all of the tests so the earliest we can leave is Sunday evening at 7 pm. (It's Friday evening)

All of the beeps and running oxygen and suction swooshing are making me anxious this time.  Actually I'm scared  I'm terrified about what lies ahead of us This is our third stay in the PICU in a matter of months.  The bright lights flash across the screens with numbers and when they go too low, people run into the room and monitors beep furiously. 

This time we have an added bonus: the staff comes in the room in a yellow mask and a yellow protective covering over their clothing. It feels like I'm on a TV set, not a child's hospital room. The extra protection is freaking me out, I can only imagine what my 9 year old is thinking when he sees these people approach him. 

Influenza Is In The House

Poor Lane and Andrew have been extremely sick for a couple days.  As soon as our active four year spent the morning barely moving, we made a doctors appointment.  I knew in my mama heart that something stronger than a cold invaded our immune system. 

There is a new physicians office in our community and I meant to fill out paperwork this summer. However, it was a large pile of papers and I procrastinated.  We drive to specialists all the time but rarely need a general practice physician.  When the choices are to drive an ill child 45 minutes to our beloved pediatrician who is always busy or fill out a pile of papers, you can guess what won. My head was pounding from my illness, but I was able to sign my life away to another doctor.  

Andrew tested negative for influenza and the doctor gave me a little look. You know that "hmmm, maybe they are exaggerating" look.  She doesn't know me yet and she doesn't know that I don't run to the doctor for every illness.  It turns out 30%!of flu tests have false negatives. Since Andrew was negative, she has to test Lane.  Poor screaming child tested positive and we all received Tamiflu and cough medication for the adults. She determined that the three of us have the flu and the boys should take the medication since they have been exposed. 

$350 later and we are seeing slight improvement. Lane is staying hydrated and that Is important since she is still at risk for getting dehydrated quickly.   Her weak little voice would make anyone cry. It's so pathetic.