We’ve been to and fro the emergency room since Saturday because of The Little Man’s fever. I think I saw him have seizures already due to the fever, but I’m not sure if those were really fever fits since we’ve never encountered that with The Princess before. To be sure, we had him admitted by Sunday afternoon so his doctor can closely monitor him.
I was crying on the way to the ER because I swear, his last seizure was so scary. He was staring blankly at us, drooling, and was not responding even if we called his name. I remember reading a mother’s experience about a similar seizure where her son lost his hearing and sight so imagine how scared we were while it was happening! When we arrived at The Medical City, they immediately checked the Little Man and confirmed that everything was normal – except that he has a fever they can’t explain.
They did a urinalysis, extracted blood for CBC, and checked his heart and lungs. None pointed to the culprit behind his fever. After six hours in the ER, and despite the ER doctor’s recommendation for us to go home and observe from there, we had the Little Man admitted. By Monday morning, and with his temperature constantly in the 39’s range, his pediatrician recommended performing a lumbar puncture so they can rule out brain infection. Brain infection!!! It took A and I the whole day to decide because signing the waiver would mean we’re letting them stick a needle into our baby boy’s back.
According to KidsHealth.org, a lumbar puncture is done to:
…test the CSF to detect or rule out suspected diseases or conditions through analysis of the white blood cell count, glucose levels, protein, and bacteria. Special testing can look for certain bacteria and viruses, or find the presence of abnormal cells that can help identify specific diseases in the central nervous system. Most LPs are done to test for meningitis, but they also can detect bleeding in the brain and certain conditions affecting the nervous system (such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and multiple sclerosis). LPs also can deliver chemotherapeutic medications.
After a whole day of reading up on it and asking others who have knowledge about it (many thanks for being available for my questions since Sunday night, Serene!), we finally agreed to do it. As much as we hate the idea of sticking a needle on our precious mini, it has to be done just to make sure that we’re not dealing with a brain infection. Better safe than sorry, right?
This morning, we brought the Little Man to the OR for the procedure. Getting him to sleep and the procedure itself only took about 25 minutes.
The hardest part was when he finally woke up in the recovery room. He was crying like there’s no tomorrow! No hug, kiss or song could calm him down. The doctors said it is probably because he was feeling dizzy and that because he hasn’t had anything to eat for hours prior to the procedure. Thankfully, after about 20 minutes, our boy fully woke up and the doctors finally allowed me to breastfeed him. He instantly calmed down after latching, then he fell asleep for about an hour. He woke up feeling much better!
He still has a fever. It has gone down to the 38’s range, but we’re still keeping an eye on him. He hasn’t had a seizure since Sunday, which is good. BUT, we still do not know what is causing the fever. Our pediatrician said the samples they got from the lumbar puncture will tell us more about what’s going on. We are praying that whatever the result is, it won’t be anything serious.
In the meantime, we are keeping the mood jolly for the Little Man…
The results should be ready by tonight. We’re just waiting for our pediatrician to have a look at it so she can let us know what our next step will be. Do include our baby boy’s healing in your prayers!