Saturday, October 27, 2007

the whole world turned upside down...

On Tuesday morning, we set out for an adventure in Brenham, TX, which is about an hour and a half from here. We visited Blue Bell Creamery, then went out to lunch and poked into some antique shops. On the way home, Isaac fell asleep in the car. When he woke up, he said his leg hurt. I thought it was asleep from sleeping in a weird position. When we got into the house, he seemed kind of cranky and a little warm. Maren had had a bit of a virus on Sunday, so I thought he was coming down with the same thing. I gave him some Tylenol, and he seemed to bounce back.

When he woke up on Wednesday, he was still running a fever and said his leg hurt too much to walk. We gave him more Tylenol, and gave him the option of staying home or going out shopping and going to lunch. He thought shopping and lunch sounded fun, and he sat in the stroller as we poked around Rice Village. This time, the tylenol didn't perk him up quite so much, and he was miserable by the time we got home. The other kids had flu shots that afternoon, so while we were at the pediatrician's office, I asked the nurse what she thought about his symptoms. She thought I should bring him in, so at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, the pediatrician saw him and told us to go to the emergency room for blood tests and an x-ray.

By 10pm on Wednesday night, he had had lots of blood drawn, x-rays of his knee and hip, and a needle aspiration of his knee and the surrounding muscle. They admitted him with a tentative diagnosis of an infection of his left knee, his femur, and/or the quadricep. On Thursday morning he had an MRI, which confirmed that the has osteomyelitis, a bone infection. That afternoon he had surgery-- a hole drilled into his femur to relieve the pressure and drain the infection. We're waiting for final lab results to come back, but the doctors think the infection is MRSA (a particularly nasty staph infection). I guess he didn't realize that he was doing the trendy thing by getting MRSA the same week Newsweek did a big article on it.

We hope that he's now on the road to recovery, but it's going to be a very long road. He'll be in the hospital for about a week. He needs to start eating again (he's only had two chicken nuggets and three french fries since Tuesday), needs to get moving a little bit (he's swelled up like a balloon right now), and needs to stop spiking fevers. He may need to have more surgery to drain the bone again. On Monday he'll have a PICC line inserted, because the course of treatment is 6-8 weeks of IV antibiotics, administered 3 times a day. We're not sure how soon he'll be allowed to walk again. One of our doctors said he'd be in a wheelchair for three months, and the other one said he thought he could start to bear weight as soon as he felt up to it.

My mom and my godmother are staying with us for a little more than a week. Ed's mom is coming right before my mom leaves and will be with us for another week. So we've got family help until November 12th. We'll see how things are after that point. It's going to be a long fall for us, I think, and Isaac is pretty sad. He was supposed to be hosting his third birthday party right now in our backyard, complete with a bounce house, a bunch of friends from preschool, and a Diego birthday cake. Instead he's in the hospital, and it's so sad.

I probably won't be around all that much. The hospital doesn't have wi-fi and so far Isaac isn't feeling good enough to leave the room with me to go to the computer labs. I'm still shuttling back and forth from home at least four or five times a day because Maren nurses every three hours. The good news is that Isaac does seem to be getting better, albeit much more slowly than I'd like to see. I have a feeling that this might end up being my only marathon this season, and even though it's a much different marathon than I was training for, seeing him get better will be a much more satisfying result than crossing any finish line.

32 comments:

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

How scary! Huge (((HUGS))) and prayers coming your way!

Courtney said...

I'm glad he is improving. I hope Annie doesn't get it too. This will be a long fall for all of you.

As for being trendy, Seth came home with a note from school about MRSA on Friday and I immediately thought of poor little Isaac

Nettie said...

I'm sorry this is happening to Isaac and your family. My prayers are with you, too!

We got the MRSA note this past week, too.

sheri said...

Oh Shelah! I'm in tears for you and poor Isaac. You're all in my prayers. I hope he continues to recover...and quickly!
And Happy Birthday, Isaac!

TheMomoftheShoe said...

I'm so sorry you all are having to go through this. I hope he heals quickly!

Alissa said...

HUGS!!! Can we send him Birthday cards to try to cheer him up?

Send me your address?

Melissa said...

I'm sorry you are having to go through all this! But, Im glad that he is looking up!!

Kermit~the~Frog said...

I'm sorry, Shelah. That's very scary. We'll keep you in our prayers.

scraphappymama said...

The whole thing is so crazy scary!! I'm glad that things are getting better and hope that it's a speedy recovery!! If you need anything, let me know. I can bring a meal or something!!

TJ said...

i have had a sick kid in the hospital too. it is no fun, and so hard as a parent because there is not much we can do to help them feel better. how hard it is for you having to go back and nurse your little one!!! too bad i can't send you some energy.

Sheree said...

Shelah,
I am so sorry this is happening! I hope Isaac has a speedy recovery.

Lei said...

I thought about popping in on you this weekend... I can't believe all that has happened and I'm so sorry! Wish I could do something to help. (((hugs)))

NOBODY said...

Oh my word, from out of nowhere!
I hope you are managing, I'm glad you have help.
We will be thinking of Isaac and praying for a full and speedy recovery.

Gabriela said...

Shelah-I'm so sorry! My prayers are with you and your family. Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

scary stuff. glad he's getting better, though. ((hugs)) to you and poor Isaac!

Deannna - Younique Presenter said...

what a crazy mess! I hope the recovery process goes as smooth as possible!

Gina said...

I am so sorry to hear your family's news. I hope he proves to recovery much more quickly than the doctors have told you. It's heartbreaking to see your child with discomfort of any sort. You'll win this marathon - your whole family will.

Lucy said...

How suddenly scary. Life is never what we plan it to be, but I'm sad for you and your sick little boy and your missing races (possibly) but hope all goes well from here on out for your whole family.

Happy third birthday to Isaac.

MusicalMom said...

I can't even imagine the toll this has taken on you. I'm sending hugs and prayers that he'll get better as quickly and easily as possible, and that he won't have any long-term effects from this trial.

(((((HUGS)))))

Anonymous said...

I so very sorry you and your family are going through this. I am praying for you.

Don't forget to take care of yourself during this time...

Doreen said...

Goodness, how scary! I hope he gets better soon. MRSA is a scary thing. 6-8 weeks of IV antibiotics doesn't sound like a lot of fun, either. You may want to start him on some probiotics to try and counteract some of the nasty side effects antibiotics can have. You could even ask the dr for a prescription, some doctors will give you one and then insurance covers part of the cost. Good luck, I really hope his little body recovers quickly from this ordeal.

Valarie said...

Oh man, Shelah! That's awful, and so scary. 8 days with a PICC line was hard enough; I can't imagine 8 weeks.

Anonymous said...

Thinking of you and your family.....

g said...

Oh my gosh, Shelah. I'm so sorry for Isaac and your whole family. You'll definitely be in my prayers.

Stacy said...

Thinking of Isaac and your family at this time. Hope he continues to improve quickly.

Jen said...

Oh my gosh! How completely scary for all of you. Thinking of and praying for Isaac and the rest of your family. (((hugs)))

Amber said...

We're thinking and praying for you and your little Issac here. I hope he quickly improves!

Vanessa said...

Here's to praying he gets well and that you have the energy and stamina to do the things you need to as a wife and mom!

Anonymous said...

Hi. I've been enjoying your blog for a long time, but never commented. My sister had this as well and was hospitalized for a week with the PIC line and everything. It took us quite some time to realize there was something wrong because at first it seemed like she just had a phantom pain in her foot. BUT she's doing great six months later. I hope Isaac has a speedy recovery!

BAK said...

I hope your little one gets better soon. I am so sorry about him getting sick, and about your marathon. Take care!

I'm Cute said...

Oh no, Shelah! I send all the prayers and cyberhugs I can muster. Poor little kiddo!!!!!! Dave and I feel for you. I hope Isaac is OK--I had IV antibiotics for one week and it bored me.

Many, many hugs.

Anonymous said...

((HUGS)) Shelah! I hope you're surviving!
Julie