A Quick Note To Family

It all started Monday afternoon. The school called and said Mae wasn't feeling well. She had a fever of 101 and was complaining of body aches. She spent the night on the sofa and by Tuesday afternoon she was complaining of aches and pains now in her leg, still running a fever. Tuesday afternoon her left eye started to swell so I immediately called the doctor and made an appointment for that afternoon. Of course her doctor wasn't in and the only pediatrician available was the one doctor we have not had a lot of luck with. Yes this would be the same doctor who poo pooed her Orbital cellulitis last year that hospitalized Mae for a week. Mysteriously by the time we made it to the clinic (about an hour after I called) the eye swelling and redness was gone and all she had was a slight fever. Doc came in, checked her over and insisted to me that this was a virus and said we should just keep up giving her Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down. I didn't buy it, but short of getting into an argument with the doctor, there was nothing I could do.

Tuesday night was awful! Again Mae slept in the living room but couldn't get comfortable and was complaining of extreme leg pain. The fever was higher at about 102 and she was having a hard time keeping fluids down. By the afternoon she couldn't bear weight on her right leg at all but was resting comfortably once she could tolerate the Tylenol and Motrin again. The gardener came home from work while she was taking a nap and I tagged off so I could go the farm. By the time I arrived home from work, her ankle and knee were swollen, red and warm to the touch. Off to the ER we went. We dropped off Binny with my MIL for the evening.

After poking and prodding and waiting, the ER doc. came to the conclusion that this was another cellulitis (the same type of infection she had last year around her eye) but this time it was in her leg. They put in an IV to give her a strong dose of antibiotics and drew some blood to find out what type of infection she is battling. They ended up sending us home around 10:30 (In the middle of a thunderstorm no less) with the IV still in her arm and instructions to see her doc today and probably more IV meds.

She slept on the sofa again last night after another dose Tylenol and we also applied some warm compresses to her knee and ankle (the two worst areas on her leg) which seemed to help with the pain and swelling. This morning she woke up in a lot of pain once again and a fever of 102. After getting some Motrin into her system she was able to hobble over to the kitchen to eat some breakfast and now we're just waiting to go to the doc this afternoon. Her spirits are good and she didn't even shed a tear last night during the whole blood draw and IV setup. She has been such a trooper and I feel so bad for her especially since this could have been caught 2 days ago at the first visit to the clinic... At least today she will see her own (fantastic, no nonsense) doctor and hopefully she'll be on the mend in a few days.

Ever since Monday when this started I kept having flashbacks of her Orbital cellulitis last year. I'm not sure if it was because it was around the same time of year or if it was just my Mommy instinct kicking in, but the Gardener and I knew something was up. This wasn't just a run of the mill virus.

I haven't made any calls to family yet just because we still don't know too much at this point. Really, she will be fine once the meds can work their magic just like last year. Please try not to worry too much. I will keep you all posted as we find out more info, probably here on the blog or through email so I don't have to call everyone and explain myself over and over.