Visit to the Hospital

Well, to fill in anyone that doesn't know...Caitlin hasn't been feeling 100% lately. She's had...well..the runs for 3 weeks now. At first, she just acted normal and was fine. This past week things went downhill, as she lost all her energy, appetite, and thirst, and would just lay around day after day. She also has random fevers with little or no other symptoms. On Thursday her doctor's office FINALLY (after much nagging on a very concerned mother's part) sent her to get some more bloodwork done, so they could refer her to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We then ran back to the doctor's office for another checkup. The doctor decided to send us back to the hospital for abdominal x-rays after that. (This was all done in a whirlwind on Thurs. afternoon. Thank goodness for a sweet neighbor that took care of Abby and the baby that I babysit.) Between the x-ray results, the blood results, and Caitlin being very dehydrated, they decided to admit her to the hospital on-the-spot, and get an IV running asap.

This is Caitlin at one of her few decent-feeling moments.

Because she was dehydrated (and she is IMPOSSIBLE to draw blood from anyways), starting the IV was a lengthy, painful process. They decided to start it in the ER, because the nurses there start IVs a little more regularly. The 1st two places they tried were in both sides of her foot. If I'm not mistaken, that is the most painful place to start an IV. They dug and dug and dug in her poor foot, and they just couldn't get it. (At this point, several people had to be moved from the ER to the lobby, because she was screaming so bad, and they felt so bad for her.) Then the digging began in her forearm. FINALLY, after about 20 minutes of torture for poor Caitlin (and the same amount of immense praying on Mom's part), they got the IV started. They anchored it a bunch of different ways, and they put a brace on the back of her arm so there was no possible way she could make it come out. I don't know if they'd be able to get another one going if it did come out! (And I wouldn't be able to hold her down any longer!) By 9 or 9:30pm she was moved upstairs into her room, and she was exhausted. Over the course of Thursday until tonight, they ran test after test after x-ray after more tests, and all of the results have come back negative.

They would let Caitlin walk around the halls, and she liked to push her own IV cart. This is after making one loop around the hall, and she was mad and ready to lay back down.

To this point, they still have not figured anything out. They know that something inside her gut is infected, because of the elevated level of white blood cells. (I know there is a much more medical term for that.) They can't start antibiotics because they don't know what kind of infection it is, or what caused it. She IS hydrated after being on the IV for 3 days, so they finally decided to let us go home at about 8pm tonight.

We are meeting with the doctor again tomorrow at 10am, if everything goes well tonight. If she has another bad night tonight, the doctor is thinking of having her checked in at a hospital in Columbia (an hour and a half away)...which would be extremely hard. So we are praying that tonight goes smoothly. After tomorrow, the doctor is hoping to be able to get a pediatric G.I. doc ANYWHERE within 4 hours of here to see her by Tuesday morning, at the latest. The doctor is very concerned, because her stomach hurts so bad on and off.

I can't say enough how thankful I am to live close to a hospital, and for modern technology. The pediatrician that is helping us is WONDERFUL, and she is proactive, and aggressively trying to find out what is causing all of Caitlin's pain and problems. We will keep you updated with the latest and what they decide to do next. I am SO GRATEFUL that my sweet Caitlin is home again!!!