You realize that when a doctor starts a conversation like that, you are about to go on one heck of an adventure. At first, Anderson was diagnosed with HUS which is a somewhat rare by-product of E.Coli. As a quick definition, HUS attacks the kidneys and leads to kidney failure. We then started watching Emmett closely too and tested his stool and it came back positive for E. Coli. My babies were in trouble. How much trouble was unsure but we were there, ready or not. Well, things with Anderson became progressively worse almost every time the doctor's entered the room. Exhaustion is an absolute understatement. Anderson's levels would double higher and higher in a bad direction everyday, indicative of kidney failure. We were waiting to see if he'd need dialysis. Well today I hit a wall. This morning the test results returned and someone mentioned how Emmett was good so maybe even he could go home tonight.They even unhooked him from his IV. I was so excited to see we had dodged the worst of it for Emmett. We spoke too soon.
The doctor came in at about 1:15pm and said, "Okay, I have good news and bad news." I actually didn't think much about the bad news part. Well, little did I know. Anderson was starting to turn the corner with the HUS in the way of good test results. He needed another blood transfusion but overall things seem to be SLOWLY picking up for him. The bad news, Emmett's test results had dropped and he had taken the turn for the worse and was diagnosed with HUS. We were going in for round two with HUS, just a different child.They immediately scheduled him to go under for a central line. These are amazing things. Scary a ever but they are a catheter type thing that leads under the collar bone to the heart so Emmett doesn't need to be poked every time they do a blood draw, He can receive blood transfusions and he can get his IV and nutrition all in one area. Emmett had such great energy yesterday. Even this morning he had a bath and he was just giggling and being cute. As if within an instant he was laying flat out on the bed just exhausted and upset and achy. The only positive to this is I've just been through all this with Anderson so I'm aware of what's to come and so I'm not dealing with the unknown and hard to understand medical lingo that goes along with it.
The days at the hospital start fairly early, between 5-6am. So, they always take blood and run labs first thing and then once results are in the doctors come in to decide on the course to take for the day. We are looking forward to meeting the Pediatric Kidney Specialists today. He is contracted out from Portland, Oregon but he flies in on wedneday/thurdays and works on children suffering from kidney illnesses. We are looking forward to what he can tell us about the damage that has happened to Anderson's kidneys and what may be able to be done, along with helping us with Emmett's new prognosis.
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