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Home from the Hospital
- Sep 14, 2008 at 4:46 PM
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- Comments (11) Total Views (200) Everyone can see this journal post.
On Wednesday when I picked Hayley (16 months) up after I got out of class, she was acting like she didn't feel well. I took her home and we cuddled on the couch most of the day. By that evening she was acting like she was feeling a little better. She was moving around the living room like normal.
Thursday she refused to get down most of the day. Then when she was feeling good enough to get down she didn't want to bend over to get toys. Matt and I assumed that her teeth were bothering her and didn't think to much of it. She is normally is a snuggle bug when she hurts and/ doesn't feel good. Since we were away from home (funeral) we figured that she was a little more uncomfortable.
On Friday she was much the same. I packed her around the house and the only place she would sleep was tummy to tummy. By early afternoon my arms were so tired that I HAD to set her down. I placed her in her BIG padded chair. I sat down on the floor next to her and we played for a little while. I have to get up to use the restroom. I left her on her chair, when I went. She got upset that I had walked away. I stepped out of the bathroom and noticed that she was still on her chair. This was REALLY odd for her. I knew that she can get down (and on it) on her own. I thought back to the day before when she didn't want to bend over. I walked over to her and tried to stand her up. She wouldn't put pressure on her right leg.
I called my mom and asked her if she thought it might be growing pains. She told me that doesn't sound right and advised me to call her Dr. I immediately made her an appointment for that afternoon. The doctor asked me a bunch of questions then had the nurse take some blood. That evening the Dr. called with the results. He instructed us to take her in to the hospital for some x-rays.
We arrived at the hospital at 9:45 PM. The ER Dr. on call came in to talk with us about her symptoms. He and other Dr. were concerned about her having an infection in the hip joint space. They took the x-rays and the ER Dr. shared the results with an orthopedic surgeon. The ER physician can in and told us that the x-ray looked normal but with all the other information they had they wanted to remove some fluid form the joint space just to make sure. He explained that if it was a viral infection it would have no effect on the joint, however if the infection was bacterial it could damage the head of the femur. By 11:30 Dr. May (the surgeon) came in to descried what would be happening. They would insert a needle into the joint space and remove some fluid. It there was puss they would open up her leg and clean it out. If the fluid was clear they would do culture.
Hayley was admitted to the pediatric ward and we were told that someone else was in the operating room but as soon as that case was done they would get Hayley in. We settled in to her room are we just asleep when the nurse peeked in and told us they were ready (about 2:30AM). Transfer came to walk us down to the OR. When we arrived we talked with the recovery nurse who again went over procedure followed by Dr. May, the surgical nurse, then we spoke to the Anesthesiologist . During all of this Hayley kept pulling at my shirt wanting to nurse. I felt horrible because I wasn't allowed to feed her. Finally at about 3:30 AM they pulled Hayley from us and sent Matt and I to the waiting room.
15-20 minutes later, the surgical nurse came out to let us know there was puss in the joint so they were proceeding with the surgery. With in 45 minutes Dr. May came out let us know that everything went well. He explained that when he initially removed some of the fluid and puss, he pulled out about 5 cc, they removed even more when her opened up the joint. This means that there was very intense pressure, enough that could have done tissue damage. He told us they would start her on antibiotics.
About 4:45 or 5:00 AM they let us come into the recovery room then we all went back to her room in pediatrics. Matt and I had PB&J then caught a couple hrs sleep. Saturday morning Dr. May came in to let us know that the cultures had nothing growing yet, but they would be keeping her all of that day and see what the culture looked like Sunday morning.
By early Saturday afternoon Hayley was walking again. She was a little shaky by up and cursing about 12 hrs after surgery (and even more exciting for us because she wasn't wanting to walk before). She was acting more and more like our Hayley. Sunday morning the culture still had no growth. Dr. May said that it was now looking like the infection was viral but it was still to earlier to know for sure. They gave us some care instruction then sent us home.
She is doing well, still in pain but we have out wonderful baby back. She has a check up appointment with Dr. May on Thursday but all in all things are "back to normal"!
They were very supportive of me still nursing Hayley (16.5 months). Even though they were keeping a super close eye on her fluids (even weighing her diapers) they NEVER asked me to pump so they could "count how many oz she was drinking". They just asked me to keep track of how long she nursed.
They also were supportive of us co-sleeping. They told us what ever helped us get the most sleep and comforted Hayley!
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I found a web site that describes the two possible diagnosis better. The culture of the synovial fluid has had no growth (suggesting hip synovitis) but there was puss in the fluid (suggesting septic hip) so the are keeping here on antibiotics just to be safe.
http://orthopedics.about.com/od/pediatrichipinjuries/a/synovitis.htm
Comments:
Having a child in the hospital is always so scary. Glad everything went well with her surgery. Its hard to give them up to go have surgery isn't it?
I'm so sorry your precious little girl had to have surgery. It's terrifying when our little ones are away from us! I hope she is feeling better!
Emmony: It killed me when they pulled her away from me. I knew that it would help her feel better, but the fact that I couldn't be there.... OH man!
She is feeling better. She is now walking around the house, with a limp, but she is acting like herself again.
WOW! Im very sorry you guys had to deal with this! Im glad shes better now!
oh my God! I would have had a heart attack and cried like crazy if Leyla were to have to go into that situation! (and myself having to let her go without me). You are strong. I would have broke down!. Tell Hayley that she better get better soon cause Leyla wants to play with her! =)
You should write an article on this... maybe other moms have to go through this too. I think this would be hard to go through.=)
What a horrible thing to go through for all of you!! I'm so glad that everything has turned out so well...that would have been very scary! Hugs to your sweetie!!
how horrible! But how wonderful that the medical team figured it out quickly and she got the treatment that she needed. And how great that they were supportive of continuing breastfeeding and co-sleeping and keeping her happy and content.
I'm so glad they were able to find what was going on, and help take care of it. And kudos to them for being breastfeeding friendly. There's nothing more annoying than them telling a mother she can't nurse her hurting baby.
I'm glad she's doing better now! Get some sleep, and everyone feel better soon!!
Oh my gosh Wendy! What a crazy ordeal to go through! I'm glad things are better for you all. My prayers are with Hayley and your family, for complete recovery & healing! :)
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