Jaret developed pink eye on Saturday morning and it had gotten pretty bad by the afternoon. We took him to a clinic and drops were prescribed. We put the drops in around 4:30 that afternoon and within an hour noticed that his eye was starting to swell. We thought it might be an allergic reaction to the drops so Terry called HealthLink. While on the phone, his eye was getting more red and swollen and the discharge and tears were getting more intense. Terry ended his call with HealthLink and told them we were going to the Children's Hospital. When we first got there, he was assessed but was in such amazing spirits. He played all night in the waiting area until we finally got in to see a doctor (4 hours later). The nurse that took us in upgraded us from minor to major because the eye had swelled so much, he could barely open it and the right side of his face was all red. She was concerned immediately about it being bacterial cellulitis. The doctors don't always agree and there was some contradiction among them but they began doing some blood work to find out more. The blood work was difficult as they found veins and then the veins would disappear. When they tried again, the vein would blow and cause huge bruises on both of his arms. They finally got enough blood but the blood clotted and couldn't be tested. This happened a couple of times. When they got results, it showed that his white blood cell count was extremely high and the one doctor (Dr. Smart) said that she did believe that it was peri orbital cellulitis and so that is what he has been treated for since he's been in the hospital. Because his arms were so bruised, they couldn't use them; they had to put the iv in his foot. We didn't get a room until 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Needless to say, Terry and I were pretty tired and when I get tired I then get a little emotional. I talked with my sister when I came home to shower that afternoon and cried on the phone. I couldn't get a hold of my parents right away as they were in California. So, the emotions and lack of sleep were showing.
It was good to finally have a room. Although, he slept fine, even in emergency by laying on top of me all cuddled. Jaret's eye had swollen shut overnight due to the discharge and the swelling. This irritated him as he hated not being able to open his eye. Over the course of Sunday morning, it slowly opened. Terry's parents had been visiting for the weekend but decided to leave with all of this going on. They came up to the hospital to give some hugs and kisses. Jaret was sad to see them go. Throughout the day, many nurses and doctors kept coming to check on Jaret's progress. Jaret really liked having Drew for a nurse. He thought he was pretty cool. He kept saying, "Hi Drew! Mommy, I like Drew." IV antibiotics continued and when antibiotics weren't being administered, they still had him on a saline drip to keep the vein open. It was difficult enough to find a vein that they didn't want it to close up.
Monday started early and I was a bit grumpy. There was a resident that came in at 6:30 in the morning and insisted that she needed Jaret to open his eye so she could check for movement. He opened it long enough for her to see movement laterally but she needed to check for up and down movement. I tried my best to wake Jaret and get him to cooperate, even allowing the doctor to turn the overhead lights on, but it was 6:30 and he had fallen asleep late the night before. I finally just asked if she could come back a little later or have one of the nurses check. As it ended up, he would not fall back asleep. Later that morning, we had a pediatrician come and see Jaret and he was impressed with the healing thus far. We were concerned about sight and the pediatrician mentioned possibly having to do a CT scan to check the optic nerve. In the end, the doctors were pleased with the movement and that the swelling in his eye had gone down significantly so they didn't have to resort to a CT scan. The white of his eye doesn't exist right now as it is completely red due to hemorrhaging. This will clear up but takes so much longer.
Jaret told one of the nurses that the hospital was "awesome" and that he was having "fun." That made the nurse smile - they see so many difficult cases and so we feel blessed for Jaret's health and for having the Children's Hospital with all the expertise of doctors and nurses. Jaret has made us so proud through all of this. He was so brave and so strong. He never forgot his manners and said thank you to each nurse or doctor that came in to take his vitals. His spirits were up the whole time and his smile brightened the day for a few nurses around there.
Thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it and know that has helped us get through this little blip on the road of life. We appreciate the outpouring of love and care we have experienced through this. Thanks so much.
I have included a couple of pics that I took of Jaret today, when we got home. When Terry came to pick us up at the hospital, he brought a huge teddy bear for Jaret - it is bigger than Jaret. He absolutely loves it and is sound asleep this afternoon cuddling his new bear.
Lots of love,
Jenn
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