Sickness. Man. My family has been blessed that we don't have a lot of sickness in our home. I can count literally on one hand how many times my girls have been sick. So, when sickness does strike, it has been hard. Hand foot mouth disease was in the books last year for Gracie. That literally was a really difficult 3 days. Being pregnant with Zellie and only getting 3 hours a sleep a day on top of a miserable, high temp little girl. RSV also made an appearance while Zellie was only 2 weeks old and breathing treatments, vomiting, sleepless nights and miserable girls were in the mix. But, at the end of the day neither one had been hospitalized.
Now, enter in Monday this week. Zellie started not feeling well the week before, overcame and then around 3 in the afternoon started running a temperature of 101. As the day went on, medications were given and the temperature would come back higher and higher. 102. 103 was hit in the middle of the night with a miserable 8 month old. Fussy and not urinating ANY in 12 hours, I made the decision to take her to the ER. NEVER AGAIN. It was pretty much rule out RSV and flu and send her home. Tuesday morning took her to the pediatrician and explain to the NP about her condition. The fevers, the diarrhea, the lack of urination, no lethargy and now urinating, but stool, well it smelt awful. Yes, I understand that poop stinks, but hers, it was a different foul smelling infection kind. Trust me, when you're a nurse, you know the difference. So, we decided to do a stool culture which doesn't come back far at least 24 hours. We go home and take ibuprofen and tylenol around the clock.
Low and behold, that afternoon my essential oils came! I had been waiting on them for about a week and a half and they come in the midst of illness. Perfect timing! If you want to know more about essential oils, check out my blog here. So with much caution, I applied peppermint oil to her feet and her temp came down from 103-98.8 in 20 minutes. No kidding! However, after about 30 minutes it spiked again. If you know anything about peppermint oil, you have to be very cautious placing it on young children. So, I went back to tylenol and ibuprofen. Throughout the night the temperatures continued. Around 1:30 we hit 104. I gave the tylenol again. Followed with ibuprofen. Then the vomiting came once and we went back to sleep. At 8 that morning, she was BURNING up. So I checked her temp axillary and it was 104.5. Took it rectally, 105.5. Yes, you read that correctly - 105.5. Called the office and in we went. We weren't sure what was causing all of these high temperatures so the next few hours ensued of CBC, in and out catheter to check urine, blood cultures, urine cultures and then finally one dose of rocephin IM (shot). Everything was coming back inconclusive. So, we went home and continued the same regimen. I was continuously diffusing Thieves essential oil. You can read more about it here. I kept putting thieves on her along with cool washcloths. Anything I could do to get her comfortable.
Well, around 4 that afternoon, we received the call that her stool came back positive for salmonella. So many thoughts went through my head. "Salmonella? Salmonella! Did I hear that right? Where? How? When? No body else is sick. Gosh, they must think I'm the worst mom ever; that I'm dirty. But, I'm constantly cleaning, washing and doing everything constantly to maintain a healthy environment." The NP tells me that fortunately we have done the right thing giving her rocephin which is the treatment for salmonella and to keep watching her and making sure she's drinking and not getting dehydrated. If anything comes up, to call, but she would see her in the morning. So, I called and told my husband, my mom, Sam's mom and everyone asked the same thing; where did she get it. That was the million dollar question. No one knew. So the night ensued with 103-104 temperatures, but never seemed dehydrated. We made it back to the pediatrician's office the next morning and she was miserable. Seemed sicker more now than before. The decision was discussed and made to admit her to the hospital. "Wow. This is how it feels to be on the other side," I thought.
I have never done the admission process, go to the admission desk sign papers and get in like this. The next few days were a blur with multiple IV sticks, holding her down screaming and not understanding why we were doing this to her. I'm telling you, I knew this would be what I dreaded most. I have been that nurse taking care of a 1 month old and having difficulty finding veins to stick to start an IV. I have had to tell the mommas that this was the best way to make him/her better, holding the baby down and listening to his/hers cries. I have lived it and seen it. But here, here I was being the momma. Having to hold her look her in the eyes and tell her "It's to make you feel better. Mommy loves you. You're such a big girl" all the while she looks back at me pleading with her eyes to stop and why am I letting them do this. Yes. It was one of the hardest things to do and I did it 14 times. The whole time not letting emotion take over, but pleading with my Father "Lord, please let this one be it." I knew God was listening and I knew He had the situation, but I was overwhelmed by the moment.
It was an up and down roller coaster thinking one moment we're doing better, but then to find out the next not as better as I thought. The fevers continued and so did the diarrhea. But, she slowly started coming back to wanting to eat solid food and play and smile. I had a moment one afternoon as I was finally able to come home after 48 hours being in that hospital room and get a few things that we needed and I prayed and cried before the Lord. I told Him I know that you have this: "You're the Great Healer. You know exactly what's in her body. Lord you made her body. You know every hair on her head and love her way more that I do. So, Lord I place her before you. Heal her little body. Only You can allow the antibiotics that man made because you allowed us to work against this bacteria. God, please touch her. Heal her. Thank you for suffering the stripes and pouring out Your blood so that we can be healed. Thank you for never leaving us or forsaking us, but carrying us through this."
I was a desperate momma needing intervention after a very long week. Mind you she had fevers that were 103+ for almost 5 days. Yes, 5 days. We made it, but it was hard and it was a battlefield. But, if I could have learned one thing from this, is that God is awesome and great. First, she was able to stay mostly hydrated throughout all the high fevers. She never got lethargic or had febrile seizures. Second, because I was able to mention the smell of her stool, it lead the NP to do the stool culture. Otherwise, it may have been done much later and she could have been much sicker. You see the salmonella bacteria ended up being in her blood, running throughout her entire body. I believe this is why her fevers were so high. But because God is awesome, he protected her and we were able to get treatment early. Otherwise, she honestly, could have died. Sepsis is a killer that isn't usually mentioned. Did I mention that the NP decided to do the rocephin shot before we knew she had salmonella? Yes. And that just happened to be the number one antibiotic to treat although it is susceptible to any antibiotic. You see, although yes she contracted this illness, God protected her through it. And now tonight, I have a healthy 8 month old playing on the living room floor. I could be angry and upset that she ever got sick, but the Lord never said that we wouldn't face things. He simply promised that He would be with us through it all, never leaving or forsaking us. And that, my friends, is exactly what He has done.
Tonight, my heart is full. Full of gratefulness toward my Father, that he hears us and holds us and walks with us through it all. Praise to the One who loves, and loves deeply.
Much Love,
Lauren
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