Poor Vanessa has endured quite the challenge...
Vanessa wouldn't eat more than one or two bites on Sunday, August 14. Then when she started trying to eat an apple, she complained that her mouth hurt... She had one sore on the side of her tongue and refused to eat for the rest of the day and wouldn't even suck her thumb. She had a miserable time going to bed and we finally got her to fall asleep around 10:30. Then at about midnight, she woke up screaming in pain. I had to hold her down to give her medicine and then it took another 30 minutes before she calmed down. After that, we slept on the rocking chair on and off all night long, with Vanessa screaming in pain about every hour.
We went to the doctor Monday morning to find that she has hand-foot-and-mouth disease. It's a virus that has to run its course, with her getting sores all over her mouth (and possibly her hands) before they just go away on their own. She was absolutely miserable and refuses to eat or drink anything, despite my efforts to buy anything and everything that may make her feel better. She watched movies all morning, but she wouldn't go 10-15 minutes without crying and begging for help. We managed to get one popsicle and some water into her that day.
On Monday night, after being super miserable all day, Vanessa started throwing up over and over despite having not eaten. I finally took her to the ER because she wouldn't stop. The ER doctor prescribed the maximum dose of pain killers that her body can handle and some nausea pills. She still threw up a few more times that night, but finally fell asleep after 3:00 am or so.
On Tuesday, she was miserable. I would have to pin her down and force the meds into her while she screamed and fought against me. She never ate anything all day and the meds helped a little. She slept almost the whole day and actually slept through most of the night.
Wednesday, she wasn't in as much pain, but she still wouldn't eat. She would take me by the hand and lead me to the kitchen a few times to get her something to eat, but no matter what I got for her, she would just sit and look at it and refuse to try to put it in her mouth. She hugged a piece of bread for about an hour before falling asleep on the floor.
By Thursday, Vanessa didn't have enough energy to walk or climb onto the couch and still wouldn't eat. Eric came home from work to help out and I took Vanessa to the ER again. The first ER doctor that came into the room looked at Vanessa, but did not touch her body and said that she was stable, so I should probably just take her home and deal with the virus until it is gone. I argued my case for a while, just asking that something be done to help her out a little bit since her body was obviously not improving in any way. The ER doctor avoided me at that point and then spent about 45 minutes outside our room ranting about how I was wasting his time bringing my daughter into the hospital for help... He finally came in to discharge Vanessa, who had fallen asleep and not moved for about 3 hours. I told the doctor that I did not appreciate his comments and would not like him treating (or not treating) my daughter anymore at which time the nurse supervisor came to visit. The nurse that had been checking on us asked if I would please stay and wait for the next ER doctor to come in and look at Vanessa, so we waited a little longer. The second ER doctor arrived, looked at Vanessa, and decided to run some labs and put an IV in her since she hadn't moved in 4 hours at that point. Vanessa didn't react in any way as they tried for 10 minutes to find a vein they could poke and then after her lab work came back showing dehydration and a blood sugar level of 43, they decided to add glucose to the IV. Vanessa still did not wake up or react to the fluids, so the doctor decided to admit her overnight to keep fluids moving.
By late that night, Vanessa woke up and wanted to color, and then eat for the first time in 5 days. She ate about a tablespoon of food and we were ecstatic! The following morning, she woke up smiling, ate breakfast and started talking again. They turned down the IV and she continued to drink enough fluids... and then she ate chicken strips and french fries for lunch with a few bites of chocolate cake afterward. We were discharged in the afternoon and were able to come home to continue recuperating.
It was sure amazing how quickly her body deteriorated without food and then turned around and healed once she was given fluids again. We're happy that she's back to her normal healthy self!
Vanessa wouldn't eat more than one or two bites on Sunday, August 14. Then when she started trying to eat an apple, she complained that her mouth hurt... She had one sore on the side of her tongue and refused to eat for the rest of the day and wouldn't even suck her thumb. She had a miserable time going to bed and we finally got her to fall asleep around 10:30. Then at about midnight, she woke up screaming in pain. I had to hold her down to give her medicine and then it took another 30 minutes before she calmed down. After that, we slept on the rocking chair on and off all night long, with Vanessa screaming in pain about every hour.
We went to the doctor Monday morning to find that she has hand-foot-and-mouth disease. It's a virus that has to run its course, with her getting sores all over her mouth (and possibly her hands) before they just go away on their own. She was absolutely miserable and refuses to eat or drink anything, despite my efforts to buy anything and everything that may make her feel better. She watched movies all morning, but she wouldn't go 10-15 minutes without crying and begging for help. We managed to get one popsicle and some water into her that day.
On Monday night, after being super miserable all day, Vanessa started throwing up over and over despite having not eaten. I finally took her to the ER because she wouldn't stop. The ER doctor prescribed the maximum dose of pain killers that her body can handle and some nausea pills. She still threw up a few more times that night, but finally fell asleep after 3:00 am or so.
On Tuesday, she was miserable. I would have to pin her down and force the meds into her while she screamed and fought against me. She never ate anything all day and the meds helped a little. She slept almost the whole day and actually slept through most of the night.Wednesday, she wasn't in as much pain, but she still wouldn't eat. She would take me by the hand and lead me to the kitchen a few times to get her something to eat, but no matter what I got for her, she would just sit and look at it and refuse to try to put it in her mouth. She hugged a piece of bread for about an hour before falling asleep on the floor.
By Thursday, Vanessa didn't have enough energy to walk or climb onto the couch and still wouldn't eat. Eric came home from work to help out and I took Vanessa to the ER again. The first ER doctor that came into the room looked at Vanessa, but did not touch her body and said that she was stable, so I should probably just take her home and deal with the virus until it is gone. I argued my case for a while, just asking that something be done to help her out a little bit since her body was obviously not improving in any way. The ER doctor avoided me at that point and then spent about 45 minutes outside our room ranting about how I was wasting his time bringing my daughter into the hospital for help... He finally came in to discharge Vanessa, who had fallen asleep and not moved for about 3 hours. I told the doctor that I did not appreciate his comments and would not like him treating (or not treating) my daughter anymore at which time the nurse supervisor came to visit. The nurse that had been checking on us asked if I would please stay and wait for the next ER doctor to come in and look at Vanessa, so we waited a little longer. The second ER doctor arrived, looked at Vanessa, and decided to run some labs and put an IV in her since she hadn't moved in 4 hours at that point. Vanessa didn't react in any way as they tried for 10 minutes to find a vein they could poke and then after her lab work came back showing dehydration and a blood sugar level of 43, they decided to add glucose to the IV. Vanessa still did not wake up or react to the fluids, so the doctor decided to admit her overnight to keep fluids moving.
By late that night, Vanessa woke up and wanted to color, and then eat for the first time in 5 days. She ate about a tablespoon of food and we were ecstatic! The following morning, she woke up smiling, ate breakfast and started talking again. They turned down the IV and she continued to drink enough fluids... and then she ate chicken strips and french fries for lunch with a few bites of chocolate cake afterward. We were discharged in the afternoon and were able to come home to continue recuperating.
It was sure amazing how quickly her body deteriorated without food and then turned around and healed once she was given fluids again. We're happy that she's back to her normal healthy self!
2 comments:
Oh my goodness. That is so sad. I hate when the doctors don't think we know what we're talking about becuase we didn't go to medical school- we're the moms and we know when there is something wrong with out kids. I had to tell the doctors I didn't like their plan and something else should be done a few times when Blair was in the hospital last winter. I'm so glad you got someone else to check her out and get her little body healing.
Soon I'll be an ER nurse, then I'll have your back, Jen.
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