The Emma Report

What started out this morning as a spot or two on Michaela’s neck quickly became a rash that spread over her cheeks and arms. As I mentioned, she’s had a cold for a couple of weeks but she developed a low grade fever two days ago and has not been her usual happy self. My first thought was “Oh no, what does poor Boo have now?” immediately followed by: “Yikes! is this contagious and will Emma come down with it too?”

A quick trip to the pediatrician suggests that this rash may be a reaction to the antibiotics Michaela has been taking for an ear infection. It is the first time she’s ever been prescribed penicillin and she may be allergic to it. We were referred to a pediatric allergist, but unfortunately won’t be able to have Michaela tested for a year or so. Apparently the product used to test for penicillin allergies was recalled by Health Canada some time ago and a new testing agent won’t be available for a year (?!?). In the meantime, Michaela won’t be given penicillin and we’ll watch her closely for any other reactions. She’s on Benadryl now and seems mostly unfazed by everything. As Michaela explained it, “I have to take special medicine ’cause I have spots.”

Our doc. said there is also a slight possibility the rash is due to a viral illness, in which case Emma may also be affected. Ugh. Let’s not even go there yet.

Emma in her exersaucer March 2006 (age 4 months corrected):

Michaela in the same exersaucer June 2003 (age 6 months):

Emma continues to do very well since her discharge last week. We had a follow-up appointment at CHEO yesterday and her lungs were completely clear (Yay!!). Unfortunately Michaela has been home with a bad cold/fever, so we’re praying that Emma doesn’t pick up this bug too. Trying to keep germs at bay seems to be a never-ending battle this winter!

For the past few weeks Emma has been trying to pull herself into a sitting position whenever she can. I wasn’t sure if she was old enough (she’s just over 4 months, corrected age), but given that she has good head and neck control, I pulled out the exersaucer today. As the pictures show, Emma loved it!!

P.S. Emma now weighs in at 6.02 kg (just over 13 lbs). Way to go, Emma!

Emma was discharged from CHEO this afternoon. As you might imagine, we’re relieved and so happy she’s back home where she belongs. We’re incredibly lucky to have such an awesome children’s hospital here in our city, but if Emma is admitted to an inpatient ward there again anytime in the next 16 years, it will be too soon!

Emma will have a follow-up appointment with the Respirology Clinic to monitor her breathing problems and we’ll have to be even more careful about exposing her to germs/sick people, but she seems to be making a good recovery. She’s now on 7 different medications (some of which will be discontinued in a week or so). Combined with the 2 meds. that Michaela is also taking for her ear/sinus infection, we have a veritable pharmacy in our home now. I think keeping track of all of them may require a spreadsheet!

Emma continues to improve! In spite of a few dips in her oxygen saturation levels overnight, she didn’t need any supplemental oxygen (a Very Good Sign). Her cough is getting better and she hasn’t had a fever in 2 days. The docs also discontinued her nebulized ventolin treatments today (meds. given by mask) and Emma is now receiving the meds by Aerochamber, as she had been since her discharge from the NICU. A physiotherapist came by today to give her some chest physio. and show us some exercises we can do at home… If all goes well tonight and she doesn’t need any oxygen, Emma will most likely be able to come home tomorrow. Yay!!!

Well, Emma managed to wiggle and squirm around enough today to cause the I.V. catheter to come out. Rather than attempt another I.V. insertion (an ordeal that required two nurses, an I.V. “specialist,” and Mom’s assistance last time), the team decided to switch Emma to oral antibiotics a little sooner than initially planned. We should know in 24 hours if the new medication is as effective as the I.V.-delivered antibiotics were.

As Eric mentioned yesterday, Emma is pretty much back to her easy-going, cheerful self. She’s kicking up a storm (the nurses call her their little soccer player ’cause her legs never stop moving!) and is charming everyone with her easy smiles. Since Emma has been feeling better, keeping her entertained has become more of a challenge. We’re still in isolation (we can’t expose Emma to any other sick children because she is very susceptible to all germs) and on monitors, so we can’t leave her room. We have a few CHEO-loaned toys for her to play with, but Emma is becoming bored. We’re very eager to have her back home soon… In other encouraging news, Emma was able to come off oxygen by mid-afternoon today. As of this evening, she is still able to maintain her sats at acceptable levels. She may need to go back on low-dose oxygen during the night, but we are one step closer to discharge! (hopefully within the next 24-48 hours).

Unfortunately, Michaela has come down with an ear/sinus infection and she is now on antibiotics too. When it rains, it pours…..

Emma is back to her old self and seems to be feeling good, other than she’s not particularly fond of the IV. There’s a washcloth taped around the IV so that she hopefully doesn’t start picking it apart again. Yesterday morning she managed to get the washcloth off, work the tape holding the IV loose, and get the IV catheter part way out before I caught her. She owes a big smilin’ Emma thanks to the nurse who skillfully rethreaded it into her vein, avoiding having to start a new IV.

Today Emma is still on very low flow oxygen (0.1 l/min), ventolin masks every 4 hours, and antibiotics. My guess is that she’ll be in hospital for another couple of days while she completes her recovery from whatever bug(s) she picked up.

Emma is feeling much better tonight…so much better that she was awake for about 3 hours straight and mostly just wanted to play. She’s still on low flow oxygen, but I have a feeling that she’ll be off it tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

Sorry, just have time for a short update tonight, but wanted to let everyone know that Emma is feeling a bit better today. She still has a low-grade fever and her breathing is wheezy, but the I.V. antibiotics seem to have started working. She had more frequent smiles today, and was even able to briefly play with a toy or two, something she had no interest in for the past few days. She’ll be on antibiotics for at least 10 days, but if she continues to improve she may be able to come home in 3 or 4 days. Here’s hoping….

After several discussions and much debate, the docs are now treating Emma for pneumonia. Her chest xray looked “suspicious” and her fever and breathing worsened overnight. While they aren’t entirely sure whether it is viral or bacterial, the senior staff pediatrician finally decided to ‘err on the side of caution’ this afternoon, and they’ve started Emma on I.V. antibiotics. She’s also receiving nebulized Ventolin and/or epinepherine every couple of hours (the meds are given in a fine mist through a face mask).

After a long and restless night (in which neither Emma nor Daddy got much sleep), Emma had a much quieter day today. By this afternoon, her breathing was not as laboured, she was not requiring as much oxygen, and her fever was lower. So far, all of her blood tests have come back within normal limits and she does not have any of the viruses (including RSV) they’ve tested for. While she’s still clearly uncomfortable and has a nasty cough, she’s sleeping better tonight, and we’re hoping the antibiotics will kick in and that she’ll be feeling better very soon.