I was last in the hospital one year ago on May 18th when Quin was born. Quin and I unfortunately had to pay a visit to the same hospital over the weekend, nearly one year to the day of his birth, as he was admitted for what appears to be an extremely serious reaction to the antibiotic ,amoxicillin.
There's nothing worse than seeing your child, your baby, in the hospital. Fever raging. Joints swollen and aching. Body covered from head to toe in red, swollen lesions. Eyes barely visible. I could hardly look at Q. without standing in a puddle of tears. My heart ached. Quin is home recovering, although he's still covered in lesions. They merge together, form huge spots, then linear red art across his body. In some sense of cuteness, two combined on his forehead to create a giant "X." If only he possessed some magical powers like Harry Potter, perhaps he could stop his body from itching like a flea-ridden pup.
In all seriousness, here's what I've learned:
-Allergic reactions to medicines aren't necessarily immediate. As in our case, it happened two days post-completion of a full cycle of antibiotics for treatment of a double ear infection. So parents, make sure you watch your kids for reactions during a course of meds, but after as well. Quin's case was thought to be serum sickness, which typically occurs 7-21 days post initial exposure to a drug. And let me tell you, it is much worse than just a case of hives. We're taking litchy lesions that start out the size of head of a need, grow three inches wide, swell and ultimately bruise. It's absolutely brutal. Now imagine that covering 80 percent of your child's body.
-Even with the many advances in medical science, some things can never be completely diagnosed. After seeing seven doctors and five dermatologists, they all have different diagnoses for Quin. It drove me and my own Noah Drake to the edge of insanity. We realized consensus would never happen and we would have to settle for majority rule. And hope that majority rule is right.
-Most folks know you have to be the strongest proponent for your medical care. However, you'd think that being at one of the best facilities in the country with expert care would give you some sense of relief. Not a chance. We had nurses who missed doses of meds; asked ME what his last temp readings were (hello, shouldn't you be checking that out before you come in to take his vitals?); and wrongly told us that Quin was diagnosed with a completely different, dreadfully frightening skin disease.
My tips for you. If you are ever in the unfortunate position of having a child hospitalized, I strongly recommend you:
-Keep a notepad and document all the vitals when the nurse takes them. In many cases our nurses never wrote down his vitals...just tried to remember them and jot them down when they got back to the chart. And you can't count on them to check the info before they visit again.
-Document all doses and times of meds administered. Seriously, you'd think they'd be keeping track of when your little guy needs his next dose of a med that keeps him from clawing off his skin, no? Apparently not. You may find yourself needing to track down a doc or nurse requesting a dose of a med and you'll need to know the exact time the previous dose was administered. As well, other doctors and nurses who come on board during shift changes often ask YOU what is being done to treat your child.
-Don't be afraid to ask TONS of questions of any doctor, nurse or anyone caring for your child. I don't care where they got their degree or what papers they had published in whatever scientific journals. Yes, they are the doctors, the experts. But you can still ask one million questions when your child's life is in their hands.
