Last week Justin abandoned us to gallivant across the country for 5 days (ok so he was interviewing for residency positions in Pheonix and Salt Lake) while I was stuck at home with all 3 kids, one of which who was sick. Mika began a fever of 103 on Tuesday and with Tylenol it would drop to 101. I didn't think too much of it since she was still eating and sleeping like a champ. Finally on Friday her fever peaked at 105 and her eyes began to be pink with no mucus or drainage so I took her in to a pediatrician (I couldn't get an appt with our regular pediatrician so I went to one around the corner). They took her blood and a urine sample, but nothing came up. Justin came home late Saturday night (after partying the night before with George Strait) and was very concerned the following morning when he changed Mika's diaper and found a rash on the upper part of both her legs. I knew it wasn't diaper rash, but figured since the pediatrician dismissed it it wasn't important. I took Luke and Taija to church leaving Justin to spend quality time with Mika, but that was short-lived. I received a note from the daughter of our 1st counselor that read 'call Justin ASAP'. NICE! Needless to say we found ourselves on the way to Broward General ER!
Mika was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease. It is an interesting viral infection that leads to inflammation of the blood cells that can cause heart defects in children ages 1-5. It is only diagnosed through it's symptoms which are:
fever for more than 5 days
red eyes
red tongue
dry red lips
peeling skin
swollen lymph nodes
red palms/soles
If caught within 10 days and treated with IVIG and high dose aspirin 90% of cases have no lingering side effects! So we spent a few days in the hospital! Mika was a trooper during it all! She is ALL better and mostly recovered (she is now waking up a few times each night...gone are my nights of 12-13 hrs of sleep)! We still follow-up with a cardiologist and the Infectious Disease doctor, but other than the initial scare we should be clear!
3 comments:
Oh my goodness! That is scary! Glad everything turned out ok, and sorry about your lack of sleep! :(
That is super crazy. How is she doing now? So glad Justin picked up on it quickly--once he got home.
Oh my goodness so scary. So glad that you caught it early and could treat her quickly. Praying that she will recover fully. That would be awesome if you come back to Utah for residency! I'm sure your family would love to have you closer so they can hug those sweet kids more.
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