Mason goes to the hospital

It was Saturday, August 11. Brian and I were celebrating our 11th anniversary. His mom was set to watch the kids that evening; I had called her that morning to tell her Mason had had a fever off and on for a few days, and had some stiffness, but no runny nose, no cough, no one else had anything, and she was fine with watching them anyways.

But Mason's condition continued to deteriorate throughout the day. But Saturday afternoon his high fever had returned, his neck pain and stiffness had worsened, he was doing something weird with his eyes (squinting a lot and acting like they were bothering him) and he became extremely lethargic, to the point where he really wasn't even responding to me.

"I'm not going out with you tonight," I told Brian. "Mason is too sick. I'm calling the doctor."

The after-hours answering service contacted the after-hours nurses at Children's Hospital, one of whom called me back fairly quickly. After describing Mason's condition, she told me to hang up and immediately dial 9-1-1. So I did.

My mother in law arrived just minutes before the paramedics did (an ambulance, fire truck and police SUV all showed up, quite the production). They took Mason's clothes off, put masks on everyone, loaded him in the ambulance, and took him to Good Samaritan Hospital. I rode with him; Brian followed in the van. The timing with Brian's mom was so perfect, as she was on her way to watch the kids, not knowing what was going on, and arrived just in time to stay with the other kids. One of the blessings. She was also able to contain the children in their rooms, because they had no idea I had called 9-1-1, and if you know about Connor and firetrucks... let's just say he thinks it was one of the greatest things ever that the fire department showed up in his driveway).

In the ambulance, the paramedic started an IV (yuck) and told me they were very concerned about meningitis, although I already was concerned about it. At this point Mason wasn't moving his head or neck even the slightest bit. It was very scary and extremely worrisome.

At GS, they gave him some Motrin and Tylenol to bring down his high fever, and then the doctor ordered a bunch of scary tests: a bunch of blood work, a throat culture for Strep, a nasal swab for influenza, a catheter to collect for a urine sample, a chest X-ray, a head CT scan, a neck CT scan, and a spinal tab. Not a fun list. In addition to meningitis, one of the other concerns was West Nile Virus.

As we were absorbing this, our fabulous nurse, whom we are still so grateful for, came into the room.

"I stood out in the hall debating whether to tell you this, and I could be putting my job on the line, but you have a beautiful boy and I want him to get the best care possible," she said. She leveled her look right at us. "You have choices," she said. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?" she asked.

I didn't.

So she spelled out the benefits for us heading to Children's for the best pediatric care, and also encouraged us to get the doctor to pare down the test list, at least to focus on a test or two to start with in an effort to not put Mason through such invasive testing. We decided to work on the tests, and told the doctor we weren't comfortable with such a scary list of tests, and asked if he could suggest a test or two to start with. He suggested the CT scan of the neck. That's what we did, and they immediately found the problem.

He had an abscess, a very serious infection. They weren't able to pinpoint the exact location - later on at Children's they did - but it turned out to be a retropharyngeal abscess, a very serious infection between the back of the throat and the spinal column. One of the major problems was that the swelling could block the airway.

We were in the ER at GS for about 6 1/2 hours before they transported us via ambulance to Children's Hospital where he would receive better diagnosis, treatment and care. Here's are some pics of Mason hanging out in the ER at GS; he perked up a bit and did a little coloring, then watched a DVD, and then pics of him getting ready for his 2nd ambulance ride of the night. We were picked up at GS just after midnight Sat night/Sun morning. It was already a long and tiring night and it was only half over-

We got to Children's somewhere around 1 a.m Sunday morning, We were in the ER at Children's for about 4 1/2 hours, wherein they made the official diagnosis and such. I don't remember much about this time, other than Mason trying to sleep but being interrupted every 20 or 30 minutes, and me curled up in a chair trying to fall asleep. I never did.

Around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, they transferred Mason to an inpatient room, where he would stay until Wednesday afternoon. He was on 2 different IV antibiotics and IV fluids, as he wasn't eating or drinking much at all, if anything. That first day or so he was REALLY sick. Wouldn't move out of one position, wouldn't let us hold him, only wanted "bed" or "sleep," had very high fevers, spent most of the time either sleeping or in a fevered delirium, was in a lot of pain. It really broke our hearts.

Early Monday morning (around 4 a.m.) they had to re-do his IV which was the first time I broke down. It took three of us to hold him down, they blew a vein on the first attempt, then got it on the second. That was traumatizing for both of us.

Sometime Sunday evening his fever broke. Every day the ENT surgeon team evaluated him to determine if surgery was necessary to drain the abscess, but they didn't want to do surgery if the antibiotics would be effective. Every morning for several days we were awakened bright and early (after a night of many interruptions) but the ENT team, and every morning they said we could wait and see another day. Monday morning he came close to having surgery b/c Sunday's fever history was so bad, but it broke just in time to avoid surgery. Very glad about that.

He was a miserable, sick little boy-

On Tuesday he finally started to move a little, but still didn't want to get out of bed. Brian brought in the other kids, and they proved to be the best medicine, as he slipped right back into that role of wanting to keep up with them, as always. He actually wanted to get out of bed, and we took him for a wagon ride around the hospital. It totally wore him out, and he was pretty much out the rest of the day. But it was the improvement we had been watching for.

On Wednesday they finally felt like he had improved enough to go home. I was such an emotional mess. I was so happy we were going home just in time for the first day of school, but the emotions of the past 4 days totally overwhelmed me and I spent the next 2 days in tears. I felt like I was just in a mode of doing and caring for him, and when we got to leave I just fell apart. It was a very difficult and scary 4 days.

I was so grateful for visits from my brother Nate, Brian's dad, Brian's sister Kelley, a good friend of Brian's family - Ray, my friends Jeannie, Wendie, Paula, Elizabeth and Kristie, and for the magazines to read, the Panera Bread, the Jimmy John's, the jumbalaya and mint brownies, the Project Linus blanket given to Mason from volunteers, the priesthood blessings for Mason by Brian and Nate, the phone calls, the e-mails, the childcare provided for our older children, the meals given to our family, the prayers offered on our behalf. I was grateful for Cars 2, the only thing he ever wanted to watch; we probably saw it 8 or 9 times in those 4 days.

Also, I am grateful for the amazing place that is Children's Hospital, and the tremendously amazing caregivers that practice medicine therein. They really do know that children are not just small adults. I have loved Children's every since I worked there before Connor was born, and the years of subsequent consulting/freelance work, but it was a new perspective to watch it work around the clock on the inside, from the eyes of a mom worrying about her little 2-year-old. I knew he was always in good hands.

But, I am really glad he is back in mine.