Thursday morning the 25th of February, Keldon was eating breakfast and as he turned his head to reach for something on the table, I noticed a huge lump on the right side of his neck. I reached over and felt it and it was hard and he started to whimper and pull his head away. I started to panic and cried a little while I started to call Chris. He had just left the house for the day. I explained that something was wrong with the baby and he turned around to come home and take a look. I called Keldon's Pediatrician and made an appointment. I didn't know rather to take him to the E.R. or to wait and take him in to his Dr. When we went in, the Dr. was concerned and called an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Dr. for his opinion and advice. We were then sent to Kennewick General Hospital right away to start I.V. antibiotics. When we got to the hospital and checked in, Keldon started getting a fever. It was a struggle and completely awful to get an I.V. in him but I tried to stay strong. Grandma Stomstead (Chris's mom) came and helped. We were in hospitals for a week straight so alot of details are a blur. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was suppose to be in Seattle for a Massage Intra-oral Class to learn massage techniques for jaw and headache/neck pain. I had already pre-paid and had arranged for a human model and had to cancel my class amongst all the chaos.
Throughout the next couple days, Keldon was on Motrin every 6 hours for pain and fever. At about 5 hours his fever would spike up and then go back down once the motrin set in. Day 2 at KGH, he was taken in for a CT scan which showed and Abscess inside the infected lymph node. He was diagnosed with Cervical Adneitis which is basically a swollen lymph node that gets infected. Most kids respond to antibiotics by IV within 3 days but because he had an abscess that had formed the drugs were not penetrating the wall his body had made around the abscess evidently. One day, his IV pulled out of his arm a little and the medicine and meds were going into his tissue causing his arm to swell up like Popeye and he was in a lot of pain. We didn't catch it for some reason. He had his iv all wrapped up so he couldn't pull on it and had been crying for about 2 hours and no one knew what was going on. The nurses check the iv frequently and if it is kinked the machine beeps and says "distal occlusion." We finally got it all unwrapped and out and then had to put another one in. He was so upset that when they stuck him in his other hand, the vein blew and the same with his foot. I had to try and hold him with the nurses and it was so hard watching him scream, I lost it and started bawling when we got back into the room. They couldn't get it in so they let him rest for the night and gave him a shot of his meds later in the night instead.
The ENT DR tried to drain his abscess but nothing came out. They put lidocain on the spot and gave him morphine. AHHH, another awful moment. After that it was "Let's wait 24 hours and we will see. We didn't really hear from anyone in between that time and I got tired of the wait. Keldon's Dr was out sick over the weekend and the on call Dr. came at one time while I was out taking a break and said that his node looked smaller and he could probably go home in the morning. IDIOT! They talked about doing surgery several times to go in and get the abscess out and because there are no pediatric ENT specialists in Tri-Cities I asked to be transferred to Seattle Children's. Chris and I both have sisters in Seattle so we choose Seattle rather than Spokane. The same day, Keldon's Pediatrician was back from being sick and switched his meds and gave him 2 doses of steroids. Tuesday morning he was looking better but still sick. They allowed us to transfer him to Seattle ourselves and unhooked him from the IV but the needle remained in his hand.
When we got to Seattle the IV wouldn't flush so they had to give him another one. His hand vein blew so they put it in his foot. Awful once again. That kids definitely doesn't have a problem with his lungs. Everybody commented on that! He was happy as long as you didn't poke, touch, prod or wear scrubs around him. If someone came in to look at him with scrubs on, he would look them up and down. It was super funny after awhile. One Dr. said he was STRATEGIC. I thought that fit him well. The nurses got a kick out of his smile and fun personality and agreed with us that he was a busy body. He kept getting his iv cord all wrapped up and we would have to unhook it and detangle him. I loved Children's Hospital. There were so many Dr's and specialists that came in, and when they switched nurses, they did a safety check in front of you and gave them all the information that was current. I felt like I was on Grey's Anatomy. It made me want to be a nurse.
I am so thankful that Keldon didn't have to have surgery. He is on an antibiotic 3 times a day and is doing well. It is nice to see the lump getting smaller each day and watching his energy come back.
He said Grandpa for the 1st time at the hospital and pointed to my dad. He signs "all done." He throws things and lets them fall and says "uh-oh." He started this squint faced smile thing that cracked everybody up. Unfortunately I was never able to capture it on camera. He has proved that he is in charge and is going to be a screamer. He is DONE with the bottle and enjoys sips of whatever it is that YOU are drinking out of a cup or a sippy. He likes yogurt now and is a fan of all kinds of crackers, especially Ritz.
FACEBOOK UPDATES:
FEb 25, 2010
Keldon is in the hospital as of yesterday. He has a swollen lymph node that has become infected apparently and has a 1/2 of abscess and fluid in it. We are waiting for the surgical consult to see if they have to remove the lymph node or drain it. Please keep him in your prayers. Entertaining a 9 month old with an IV....Priceless
FEB 26, 2010
The Surgeon says she can drain keldon's lymph node with a needle for now with a local and some morphine....hopefully that will do the trick and we can avoid surgery
FEB 26, 2010
The doctor tried to drain Keldon's neck and nothing came out so now we wait for another 24 hours for the antibiotics to work on the infection and for the labs from the fluid to come back with possible results for a true diagnosis. Keeps your fingers crossed.
FEB 26, 2010 I am so thankful for my family, the cutest toughest little munchkin in the whole wide world, love, medicine, good nurses, sleep and chocolate!
FEB 27, 2010
We finally got more than 2 hours of sleep. Looks like we will be shacking up at the hospital for awhile so better get use to the beeps and baby squeaks
FEB 28, 2010
His IV, along with antibiotics got backed up last night around ten and his arm was pumped full of fluid and blew up like Popeye so they took it out and tried to do another and his arm vein blew and foot vein blew....so now he has no iv, and one good foot left. Chris's mom took over last night so we could go home and get some sleep and still no iv ... See Morein this am because Keldon didn't go to sleep till around 4. My favorite nurse got off at 7am so who knows what is going to happen now. I HATE HOSPITALS! As for the infection, they gave him another 24 on the meds, the abscess is still there so still possible surgery today or tomorrow. They want the surrounding inflammation to go down. We find out more today from the surgeon. She wants to avoid surgery by doing antibiotics as long as we can, and let them try to do the work.
MARCH 1, 2010
Happy Birthday to me....the hospital smells like pee, my baby is still here and I'm getting sickee!
March 1, 2010
I have requested to be transferred to Children's hospital in Seattle tomorrow morning. Keldon's Ped Dr has been out sick for 3 days and now is back and is recommending Seattle and getting all the info rolling for transfer in the morning. The growth as not changed in size after 5 days of meds . Keeps us in your prayers please.
MARCH 2, 2010
heading to seattle in our own car with Keldon...surgery today or tomorrow by the afternoon.
--------------
We are here, it is awesome....LOVE THE STAFF, waiting for the attending doc to come in. Just did medical history and checked in..blah blah blah. Waiting for more news
------------
No surgery tonight, he can eat until 2 am and then no fluids until surg consult at 6 am to see if there is a change with the new meds, if not 99.9% sure he will have surgery. They will flush it and put in a drain so it will stay open and heal from the inside out, only about an hour procedure including sedation and surgery.
March 3, 2010
still waiting this morning for the Dr's. All of us slept almost 7 hours straight. I feel like a half sane woman this morning. Our boy's in good hands. Went grocery shopping last night and stocked food here in the family center fridge. You need a map to get around in this place but I am loving all of it so far.
----------------
soooooo, no surgery right now. He can eat soilds again and they are going to watch him today. They think the steroid given in Kennewick is still effecting the size of the node (its smaller) and don't want to cut if it can improve on its own. The "Team" of drs will come by again in a bit to discuss all opinions. watching... him for today. Surgery still possible
-------------
we have had several doctors at both hospitals comment on how cute and happy Keldon is and that he looks like the e-trade baby....
March 3 PM
still in limbo....he's IS getting better but slower than usual, as far as his response to the antibiotic, but not getting worse either. They will do surgery possibly if he doesn't improve beyond the point he has made so far. No food after 2:00am and re-evaluate in the am. Trying to avoid surgery at all costs of course b...ut man, the wait is killing me. SO BORED!
March 4, 2010
No surgery this am, switching to oral meds if he can handle it and getting off the iv. Keeping him today to see how he responds to the meds and watching for more improvement as far as a continued reduction in size of the node. YAY- MORE PROGRESS
-----------
packing the bags.....staying at my sister's for the night to get a good meal and good nights sleep in and to be close in case Keldon won't take his meds, and then home to TC in the morning. YAHOO! No more hot pockets and crackers
March 5th- Friday
Keldon slept 12 hours straight last night and is taking his meds like a champ. I swear that kid gets cuter every stinkin day!
The Doctors never did find out what caused the infection in the first place. It coule have been staph, MERSA, or a strep bacteria. The blood work was showing high levels of inflammation in his body so it was obviously fighting some kind of infection , especially when he was having the fevers. Whatever it was, I hope we never have another encounter again!
