Ellie's hospital stay

On Sunday (yeah on Mother's day) just after we got home from church and visiting my mom we put Ellie down for a nap as she was sooo tired. We had cut her morning nap short to go to church but she was fine for the most part. She wasn't feeling warm before church. She felt a little warm to me at that point but I thought sleep was more important then unpacking the Tylenol, didn't even check her temp (mama guilt big time there). She had had a very mild runny nose for most of the week but no other symptoms of being sick. She woke up about 10 mins later having a seizure from a spike in body temp. We didn't know that at the time so we called 911. My bother has seizures (hydocyphalis) so I knew to keep her on her side. Still scared me to death since she was turning blue and sounded like she was dying. By the time the medics got here it was over and she was out cold. They took us to the ER (first ride in an ambulance!) and then everything went nuts. Her blood sugars were really really high which led them to think she had diabetes. Which after 6 more blood tests, she did not have. Then they were worried about other potential unknown seizures since she has bled from her mouth in the night and I didn't know it till the mornings when I got her up. They ordered an EEG. Yeah right, a 15 month old is going to sit quietly and/or go to sleep with electrodes hanging off of her head? It did not go well. Towards the end she was in full scale tantrum and didn't want to be held by either of us. It was enough anyway and previous seizures were ruled out. So the bleeding must be teething related. Then the first blood culture they drew in the ER came back positive. After 48 hours of it growing they determine its strepnumo (sp?) which causes pneumonia (she doesn't have pneumonia) and meningitis. She came close to having to have a spinal tap to rule it out, thank God they didn't, but they ordered a chest xray anyway. Finally the second blood culture cames back negative. Finally she was fever free for over 24 hours and they finally let us come home this morning. Phew! Eric was able to stay with us up until last night which was really nice. She and I were both totally going stir crazy and I had mama guilt big time every time I had to leave. They forced me to leave on Monday, I cried all the way home. So she has antibiotics for 10 days and a follow up with her GP on Tuesday. She is now going to be prone to having febril (fever induced) seizures until she is 6 so we just have to be ready with the Tylenol when she does feel warm.

So after all of that... a mild runny nose virus caused her temp which caused the seizure. There never was diabetes (the high sugar levels were a result of the trauma of the seizure), there never was a previous unknown seizure, and there never was pneumonia. Blood cultures take 48 hours to grow in the lab and we spend the majority of our time waiting to see what the results from those two cultures were and then another day to see which antibiotic would react to it. She had 3 IV doses of antibiotics as well. She was very happy for the most part and not "sick" at all after Sunday. Thankful it was not worse and she was able to roam about her room without wires attached. She was the delight of the nurses station as she played peek-a-boo with them and the other patients on the floor. She did not like hospital food!

We are exhausted and also still planning on moving on Saturday. Eric is off the next 2 days so we will get it all done, I'm sure. I should be packing now I guess...

Pictures!

Asleep on daddy in the ER

EEG

Ellie playing, I'm asleep in the background

Just found out we were discharged

The Ronald MacDonald family room was a pleasant surprise. Daily catered lunches and loads of free snacks