Our Unexpected Adventure

We had an interesting few days around here.  Matty ended up with a complication from a vaccine he received on Tuesday.  All the test results aren't in, so we're not exactly sure what it was or what caused it, but I thought I'd write down the details while it's fresh in my mind:

Tuesday, June 8:  Matty's five-year well-child check.  He got three shots:  Tetanus, MMR, and DPT.  Two in one thigh and one in the other.  Other than screaming in fear, the shots themself were fairly uneventful.

Tuesday night:  He was complaining of pain in his thigh, but we figured it was regular after-effects of the shots. We gave him Motrin and Tylenol for the pain, didn't think much of it.

Wednesday:  He was in a lot of pain, and complained that it hurt when he walked and said it "burned" between his shots.  I ran out of Ibuprofen.  He was so miserable, I left the boys at Grandma and Grandpas and went to get more. 

Thursday morning:  He told me that he couldn't walk when he first woke up.  I noticed that his thigh was red and hot.  I called his ped's nurses line and they told me to bring him in right away.

10:30 a.m., Thursday:  A pediatrician at our clinic looked at him. She was startled by how huge and red his thigh was.  She explained that it's hard to tell if he was having a local allergic reaction to it and was worried it was an infection.  In most cases, evidently, the symptoms of an infection don't set in until a couple days after the vaccine, but she was uncomfortable enough that they gave him a shot of antibiotics in his other thigh.  She outlined the redness with a permanent marker and told us to watch it closely.  If we thought it was growing, we should take him to the ER.

7:00 p.m., Thursday:  I was out with clients.  Cory called to tell me Matthew was miserable and it appeared the red was growing.  When I got home, I verified that it had grown outside of her markings.  I called the after-hours nurses line, and she told me to bring him in right away.

I took him to the North Memorial Emergency Room.  Unfortunately, it was the day of the one-day nurses strike, so things weren't running very quickly.  We had to wait for two hours for a doctor.

9:30 p.m., Thursday:  We saw a doctor at the ER.  She, too, was very worried about how it looked and advised us to admit him for IV antibiotics.  The North Memorial Pediatrics floor was closed because of the strike, so she originally told us to take him to Children's hospital.  Then we found out that Children's wasn't accepting transfers, for the same reason.  After consultation with our pediatrician's office, they decided to send us as a direct admit to Methodist.  They put an IV in at North and gave him the first round of antibiotics there.

2:00 a.m., Friday:  We got to Methodist.  They settled us into a room on the pediatric floor.  When I saw the pediatric doctor, she was going through the procedure. I asked her, "Should I be worried?" She hesistated and I almost threw up. She explained that if the infection has spread and we had not brought him in, if it had become systemic, it could have been very dangerous. I am so in love with my little boy and I am so thankful that we trusted our instincts in bringing him in.  At that point, the redness has extended past the original line, and the marking that the ER doctor had made also.

4:00 a.m., Friday:  Matty was moaning in pain, so I asked them to dispense some of the narcotic pain relief they ordered for him.  MISTAKE.  He got violently sick instantly.  For an hour he thrashed about and cried.  After 45 minutes, he threw up and then felt better.  He and I both slept from 5:00 - 8:30 a.m.

Friday/Saturday:  We stayed at Methodist for 48 hours on IV antibiotics.  They had to give him three different antibiotics because they weren't sure what kind of infection they were dealing with, or even if it was an infection at all.


At this point, the only thing I'm concerned about is if it was an allergic reaction to the Tetanus shot, because he'll have that again in his life.  I'm hoping the blood cultures and follow-up with his pediatrician will give us more information this week.

We're at home now, and he's sound asleep in his own bed, almost good as new.  The leg is still a little red, but it's no longer swollen. They said with a strep infection, his skin will peel...almost like a sunburn, but there should be no long-lasting results of this incident. 

This entry has gotten to be long, but I still have to say one thing:  I have the best family and friends in the entire world.  My facebook wall was out of control with comments and well-wishes.  I got calls and texts from so many of my friends.  Everyone's love and support is completely overwhelming.  I keep saying there isn't even a word for how full my heart is.  I am eternally grateful for all the love and prayers that pulled us through the pretty scary first night and the long following days.

My cup overfloweth.