PARKER'S FIRST HOSPITAL STAY

Let me start by saying Parker has been released and she is at home doing much, much better. I am going to try and keep this short.

Monday morning Parker was not being her usual happy self, but Scott and I both brushed it off as she was just tired. Well, we were wrong. I called daycare about 10 a.m. to check on her and they said she had a temperature of 101 and I needed to come get her. I immediately called the pediatrician's office and let them know that Parker needed to be seen that day. They said they were too busy - I told them that was too bad and that we were coming in. Finally, they said to come at 3:30 and we would just have to wait. Well, we got there at 3, finally saw the doctor at 5:25 and were sent to the Children's Hospital ER at 5:35. Good thing I was persistent in getting us in. The doc was concerned about her high temp, but mostly because her soft spot was swollen (and I mean bulging!). After calling Scott to meet us there, we headed next door to the hospital to wait to be seen. After about 45 minutes, the triage nurse called us in. Parker's temp had spiked to 104. Scott said to the nurse, "what happens at 105? that's where the chart stops?" Obviously we were a little freaked out. After the nurse, they put us in an urgent care room and we saw two of the ER docs. They to were concerned. So, they did a full blood work up - 5 viles of blood they drew and a full urine work up. They had to prick her three times to get a vein that worked, draw the blood, then insert the IV. Watching that was the hardest thing Scott and I have done yet - it was awful to see her in so much pain. Then they used a catheter to get the urine. And, finally, the worst part - they did a spinal tap. The doctors - the pediatrician and the two ER docs - were concerned about menengitis. Scott and I were not allowed to stay in the room for the spinal but you could tell from her swollen eyes that it was hard on her. Finally, about 9 or 10 p.m. we were taken to our room. They started Parker on antibiotics just in case it was menengitis, and those continued around the clock. It was a really rough first night - I think mom only slept for an hour.

We ended up staying for two nights and were released this afternoon. They are still unsure what is wrong with her - she still has a fever - but they have pretty much rulled out the menengitis. Our pediatrician released her, but the hospital was a little hesitant to let her go since she was still running a fever. After much debate, Scott and I felt like she would be more comfortable with the IV out of her arm and at home in her own bed. So we brought her home this afternoon. We'll continue giving the tylenol to attempt to control the fever and hope that she gets the rest she needs. If not, we'll be quick to take her back to the hospital. We see the doctor for a follow up and the final results of the spinal tap on Friday morning so hopefully after that we'll be totally in the clear.

For now though, she is slowly showing signs of getting/feeling better. Papa (my dad - who drove down in a panic Monday night) will head home tomorrow and Suzy (Scott's mom - who drove in Tuesday afternoon) will stay indefinitely since I have to go out of town on Saturday for four days. We'll keep you posted but please keep Parker in your thoughts.