Wednesday, December 19- Owen is totally normal. He throws up after his night time bottle (for the second night in a row) He seems ok, no fever, so I put him down for the night.
Thursday December 20- We have a big day ahead. Grandmother, Owen, and I leave at 6am for Vanderbilt. Owen has an EEG and an MRI scheduled.
11:30- EEG. Owen is sleep deprived. He is hooked up to what seem like hundreds of wires, stuck to his head. (Grandmother said they looked like dreadlocks- she was right) He has to stare at a strobe light for 10 minutes and then go to sleep for 20 minutes. Seems easy, right? Not so. After a melt down, he does drift off to sleep. Just to wake up again. It wore everyone out.
2pm- We go to the MRI appointment. We are taken back quickly to a "holding room". Where we wait on borrowed time considering Owen had not eaten or had anything to drink since 6:30 am! We wait and wait and wait.
4 pm- They take Owen back for sedation and the procedure.
5:30 pm- I received a call that Owen was awake in recovery. We rush back to see him. He is fussy. More than I remembered in recovery after his ear tubes. We try to get him to eat or drink. Neither one interests him. We leave for home. Owen sleeps on and off in the car on the way back, he is very quiet. Apparently sedation can make you dizzy and disoriented.
7 pm- We get back to Cookeville, where Daddy meets us at the door. Owen still won't eat anything so I offer him a bottle of formula. He drinks the whole thing. He is alert and what seems like normal, considering. I take him upstairs to his room where I begin to put his to bed. As I am holding him, he starts to shiver ever so slightly. I thought he was cold, so I covered him up with a blanket. I lay him down, he continues to shiver and feels warm so we go back downstairs where I inform his daddy and I take his temp. 99 degrees. I call Vanderbilt, long story short they will "Have someone to call me back." Owen's shivering continues. I take his temp again, 100. I offer him Motrin. The second it reaches his mouth he vomits, everywhere. All over himself, me, the couch, the floor, the stairs, up to his room. I undress him on a blanket in his bedroom floor. By this point he is shaking so violently that I swear he is having a seizure. He is alert the whole time, but very pale. I call Vanderbilt again, nothing but rude people. I call Old Harding Pediatrics nurse line where they take your message and return your call. I take his temp again, 101. We load up in the car and begin to drive to Cookeville Hospital ER. As we pull in the Old Harding doctor calls. He says to "take him home, get him up and moving. Sedation can cause your body to become lazy and can cause fevers." Um...OK?!
8:00 pm- We return home, Grandmother is there waiting. While driving back Owen threw up again in the car. I go upstairs to change out of my vomit covered clothes. When I return downstairs Owen looks like a rag doll. He is floppy and not responsive to us. I take his temp. 104.4 We load back up in the car and fly to Cookeville hospital. I had no time for doctors and phone tag at this point!
9:00 pm- We arrive at CRMC ER and they take Owen's temp. 105.7!!! (Tylenol suppository is given) They rush him to an ER room where they proceed to begin inserting an IV.
T-R-A-U-M-A-T-I-C!!! 4 maybe 5? sticks later an IV was inserted. His temp starts to come down.
12 am- Chest X-Ray shows cloudiness in Owen's right lung. ER doctor says he thinks Owen aspirated during the MRI and that is why his fever spiked. He wants us to stay a night for observation.
1 am- Owen received his first round of antibiotics. He starts to sit up and play, although he is a little fussy. Can you blame him?
3:00 am- We are taken to a room. The pediatric floor is full so we are on the adult wing. Owen eats crackers and has some juice. He goes to sleep. Grandmother leaves, and Brandon and I try to get some rest.
Friday, December 21- We wait and wait and wait. Owen is happy and eating well, but has developed diarrhea.
3 pm- (Yes, that's right) We see a doctor for the first time. This doctor says that she disagrees with ER doctor. She thinks it is a virus. Owen is tested for RODA, Flu, RSV, Strep, all negative. She wants us to stay another night for observation.
Saturday, December 22- We are STILL sitting in room 546.
10:00 am- Another doctor comes in. She disagrees with both previous doctors. She believes Owen had an allergic reaction to the gas he was sedated with. She orders a chest X-Ray. It comes back clean.
1:00 pm - We are informed we will have to stay another night for Owen to complete is 3rd round of antibiotics intravenously. We are so bummed.
6:00 pm- i complain to the day nurse that Owen's IV insertion spot looks bad. It is red and his arm is very swollen. She says it looks fine and he will need it for antibiotics later on.
9:00 pm- I show the IV to the night nurse. He says in needs to be removed immediately. But Owen may need a new one for his meds. I am so stressed.
1:00 am- Night nurse has good news. Owen can receive a muscle shot instead of a new IV. Bless his heart, it looked like it really hurt. They had to insert the needle so hard! He falls asleep soon after.
Sunday, December 23- Are we STILL HERE?!?!
10 am- Doctor comes an and says we will get to go home and the nurse will be around to discharge us shortly.
12:00 pm- We leave CRMC!!!
We still do not know 100% what caused Owen's fever to spike so quickly or get so high. We saw 3 different doctors in 3 days, all with 3 different opinions. (3-3-3!) Whether is was aspiration, or a virus, or a reaction to the anesthesia, we are just happy that our baby boy is home. He is happy and healthy and totally back to his good ol' self. Praise the Lord for fast healing.
Owen's second Christmas was a success. We call him "Present-zilla" because he can flat destroy a package in seconds! We received presents galore, ate yummy food, and spent time with our loved ones. While it involved some traveling and we are all pretty tired, it was absolutely worth it. Here are some pictures and videos to recap the past few days. Enjoy!
Love, Caitlin
Owen practicing taking steps. He is getting better!
Video 1 of 2.
Owen laughing and being silly while in Cookeville hospital.
Video 2 of 2.
Owen sure was happy despite his surroundings.
He is the best little boy!
Owen in the "Holding" room waiting for his MRI.
Hungry, but happy.
Owen and Grandpa reading a story on Christmas eve.
He ripped off every bow and name tag he could get his hands on!
Brandon and I on Christmas day.
It looks like we hadn't slept in days...Oh wait!
If you made it through this entire post, I want to say thank you for taking the time. It was no small feat! Also, please excuse the misspelled words, grammatical errors, etc. I typed it once, and then lost it all. I have typed it a second time while feeding Owen chicken fries and almond milk. Talk to you all soon!
If you made it through this entire post, I want to say thank you for taking the time. It was no small feat! Also, please excuse the misspelled words, grammatical errors, etc. I typed it once, and then lost it all. I have typed it a second time while feeding Owen chicken fries and almond milk. Talk to you all soon!
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