...for our baby girl.
she had a rather nasty fall off our kitchen bench on her birthday when she was 6 (2002). she was unconscious for only a few moments, we rushed her to hospital and we were virtually ignored/shunned throughout the night by the staff in A&E.
they sent us home the next morning but by that afternoon she was still lethargic and disoriented so we took her to a gp (not our regular doctor) who ordered a ct scan that showed no bleeding or fracture.
so again we were sent home with the doctors telling us that maybe we were "just over-reacting a bit" to the whole thing.
over the next week we had her back at A&E and the original gp we saw (our doc was still away) a total of 6 times.
we later found out that the staff at A&E had tagged mark and i as "over-anxious parents" with a recommendation that we be seen by a social worker if we continued to take her to A&E.
finally, a week later, after a whole day of her vomitting and being so disoriented that she didn't even know who we were i took her back to A&E and i just happened to be seen by a nurse who was the wife of one of the mechanics who worked for us.
she got a paediatrician down to see us straight away and the first thing out of his mouth was -
"get the paediatric neurologist here - this child has had a stroke"!!!!!!
in the short time i had left the car to when i laid her on the bed in A&E, kait had become paralysed down one side.
it was the most terrifying few minutes of my life as our friend took my mobile phone and contacted mark at work and the whole room became filled with doctors and monitors and wires attached to our precious baby girl.
it was a long night while they ordered test after test after test to try and find out what was wrong with her.
to cut a long story short kait spent the next 15 days in hospital.
she had every test known to medical science - all inconclusive.
both mark and i were even accused of having "munchausen's by proxy" - we were seperately questioned by the medical staff and a psychiatrist.
i can see why they had to do it because they didn't have the answers as to why our baby girl was so gravely ill.
one minute she was a happy normal bouncy 6 yr old little girl and it was like someone flicked a switch in her head. she became disoriented, her bp dropped so low, she had trouble focussing on things - it was terrifying to see it happen to her.
on more than one occasion they told us that we needed to have a minister present because she wouldn't make it through the night.
twice they arranged for a careflight plane to be brought up to fly her to brisbane and both times the specialists at the children's mater decided it wasn't worth the risk of moving her - she was just so sick.
after two weeks they discharged her. they THINK she had viral encephalitis (sp??) but they wouldn't and couldn't tell us what made her take these funny turns.
she was 18.5 kilos when she went into hospital and just under 15 kilos when she left.
since then she has been diagnosed with juvenille migraines - she is on a citrus/chocolate/cocoa free diet which is pretty tough on her.
she has episodes of vomitting when she can keep nothing down and the weight just drops off her.
she has weighed 25 kgs for the past 18 mths and the paediatrician is worried that if she gets really ill for any period of time she won't have the reserves in her body to fight it.
he has given her 3 months to put on just one kilo.
one measly kilo.
we weighed her the other day and she has lost 200gms...!!!
kait eats well.
she has a big breakfast, a good healthy lunch and we always have a decent evening meal.
she eats very little rubbish between meals - the occasional packet of chips but obviously she can't have chocolate or many soft drinks because of the cocoa derivative in them.
late wednesday night she started vomitting again.
she looked up at me about 3 a.m. and with tears in her little eyes, asked me why she had to be sick all the time.
i don't think that she gets ill all that often but it must seem that way to her.
it's just that when she does, she gets so very very ill.
it is so heartbreaking to hold her while she is being sick.
then forcing her to sip water when she knows that within the next 20 minutes she will be bringing it back up again.
she was well enough to go back to school today.
even her teacher commented on how drawn in the face she was compared to the lively little girl who bounded in the school gate on tuesday.
it scares me so much that she will get very ill one day and won't be strong enough to fight it.
we can't give her enough cuddles or tell her enough times how much we love her.
i am sorry if this post bored you (but you could have stopped reading at anytime)
and i don't want (or particularly need) any emails telling me to stop being so self-indulgent - it is MY blog after all. .
i am not looking for sympathy.
i just want to record my feelings for my sweet baby angel girl and the struggle she is going through at this point in her life.
i really do hope that you all have a wonderful weekend but even more so i hope that our kait has the best weekend - playing, laughing, getting lots of cuddles and kisses and no more illness.
~*~ shazz ~*~
she had a rather nasty fall off our kitchen bench on her birthday when she was 6 (2002). she was unconscious for only a few moments, we rushed her to hospital and we were virtually ignored/shunned throughout the night by the staff in A&E.
they sent us home the next morning but by that afternoon she was still lethargic and disoriented so we took her to a gp (not our regular doctor) who ordered a ct scan that showed no bleeding or fracture.
so again we were sent home with the doctors telling us that maybe we were "just over-reacting a bit" to the whole thing.
over the next week we had her back at A&E and the original gp we saw (our doc was still away) a total of 6 times.
we later found out that the staff at A&E had tagged mark and i as "over-anxious parents" with a recommendation that we be seen by a social worker if we continued to take her to A&E.
finally, a week later, after a whole day of her vomitting and being so disoriented that she didn't even know who we were i took her back to A&E and i just happened to be seen by a nurse who was the wife of one of the mechanics who worked for us.
she got a paediatrician down to see us straight away and the first thing out of his mouth was -
"get the paediatric neurologist here - this child has had a stroke"!!!!!!
in the short time i had left the car to when i laid her on the bed in A&E, kait had become paralysed down one side.
it was the most terrifying few minutes of my life as our friend took my mobile phone and contacted mark at work and the whole room became filled with doctors and monitors and wires attached to our precious baby girl.
it was a long night while they ordered test after test after test to try and find out what was wrong with her.
to cut a long story short kait spent the next 15 days in hospital.
she had every test known to medical science - all inconclusive.
both mark and i were even accused of having "munchausen's by proxy" - we were seperately questioned by the medical staff and a psychiatrist.
i can see why they had to do it because they didn't have the answers as to why our baby girl was so gravely ill.
one minute she was a happy normal bouncy 6 yr old little girl and it was like someone flicked a switch in her head. she became disoriented, her bp dropped so low, she had trouble focussing on things - it was terrifying to see it happen to her.
on more than one occasion they told us that we needed to have a minister present because she wouldn't make it through the night.
twice they arranged for a careflight plane to be brought up to fly her to brisbane and both times the specialists at the children's mater decided it wasn't worth the risk of moving her - she was just so sick.
after two weeks they discharged her. they THINK she had viral encephalitis (sp??) but they wouldn't and couldn't tell us what made her take these funny turns.
she was 18.5 kilos when she went into hospital and just under 15 kilos when she left.
since then she has been diagnosed with juvenille migraines - she is on a citrus/chocolate/cocoa free diet which is pretty tough on her.
she has episodes of vomitting when she can keep nothing down and the weight just drops off her.
she has weighed 25 kgs for the past 18 mths and the paediatrician is worried that if she gets really ill for any period of time she won't have the reserves in her body to fight it.
he has given her 3 months to put on just one kilo.
one measly kilo.
we weighed her the other day and she has lost 200gms...!!!
kait eats well.
she has a big breakfast, a good healthy lunch and we always have a decent evening meal.
she eats very little rubbish between meals - the occasional packet of chips but obviously she can't have chocolate or many soft drinks because of the cocoa derivative in them.
late wednesday night she started vomitting again.
she looked up at me about 3 a.m. and with tears in her little eyes, asked me why she had to be sick all the time.
i don't think that she gets ill all that often but it must seem that way to her.
it's just that when she does, she gets so very very ill.
it is so heartbreaking to hold her while she is being sick.
then forcing her to sip water when she knows that within the next 20 minutes she will be bringing it back up again.
she was well enough to go back to school today.
even her teacher commented on how drawn in the face she was compared to the lively little girl who bounded in the school gate on tuesday.
it scares me so much that she will get very ill one day and won't be strong enough to fight it.
we can't give her enough cuddles or tell her enough times how much we love her.
i am sorry if this post bored you (but you could have stopped reading at anytime)
and i don't want (or particularly need) any emails telling me to stop being so self-indulgent - it is MY blog after all. .
i am not looking for sympathy.
i just want to record my feelings for my sweet baby angel girl and the struggle she is going through at this point in her life.
i really do hope that you all have a wonderful weekend but even more so i hope that our kait has the best weekend - playing, laughing, getting lots of cuddles and kisses and no more illness.
~*~ shazz ~*~
8 comments:
I am in tears reading this that poor little girl I hope she starts to improve and get better soon
It's not fair that kids should have togo throught hings like this big hugs to her and you
Sue
Oh Shazz, I too am in tears for you!!! HOw frightening!! One of my biggest fears would be to see my child suffer!! I was ill alot and spent a lot of time in hospital as a child, I don't think I could handle it, if one of my kids had to go through the same!!!
I hope you get some answers soon and she makes a full recovery!!
Big Hugs to you and all your family, it must be hard on all of you!!
How dare the hospital put you through even more unnecessary stress!! Especially when you are scared and worried enough already!!
And as to those unwelcomed emails, just block them!! Don't even let them in!! Bugger them!! This is you and how you feel, you should be able to feel free to express yourself on your own blog!!
Oh - I got goosebumps reading this - you poor thing - It must be the most horrible thing watching your child be so sick - And how dare that hospital treat you like that - I would have made sure some complaints were made about that - I hope she has a great weekend - illness free aswell!!
Kelley
Oh Shazzy, I had no idea that Kait had been through all that. Parents know when their kids are sick and how some nursing staff question that is beyond me.
I'll be doing lots of praying for Kait and you. You sure could use it. I wish I was there to give you both a hug.
BTW, hooray for you, too! It is YOUR blog and you can say whatever you like. Life is not a bowl full of cherries. It has its ups and downs and one should be able to express their own view on their own blog.
Take care my friend.
Lots of hugs, Marie
Much love and many hugs to Kait that she bounces back and gets stronger and stronger. Big hugs too for you and Mark for the wonderful parents that you are pet. love, Shari xxx
Oh Shazz
So sorry to hear about poor Kaitlyn - my thoughts are with you, her and your family.
Hoping that she's feeling much, much better very soon.
Ali xox
Oh Shazz! How awful for you all. Grab little Kait and give her a big hug from me. Oh, if only we could just fix everything for them, hey?
Kathie
Oh Shazz, this is just so horrible on a number of levels, that she is so ill & that you keep getting pushed asided by the medical system. Hugs & prayers for you all xx
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