Whirlwind Vacation - Part 2

Now, given my string of luck over the past few months, you wouldn't expect a week-long vacation to be eventless, would you?? Of course not. This is me we're talking about here.

While the kids and I were on vacation, I spent another night in the hospital ER. This time, with Abby. My usually-healthy-as-a-horse daughter and I were in the ER from 11pm Friday to 4am Saturday.

Friday afternoon, after a 30 minute drive to the zoo (which ended up being closed for the day), Abby would not walk. Correction, Abby would not even stand. She stood briefly while her body shook, with panic and confusion written all over her face. No amount of prodding could get her to move, and she begged me to carry her. I thought she was scared to see the animals, because Emma was saying that she was scared and Abby emulates her older "cousin".

When we arrived back home, Abby wanted to lay on the couch. This alone worried me more than anything else, since healthy-as-a-horse Abby would never want to lay on the couch while everyone else played. Apparently, I've been watching the medical TV show "House" too often, because I started fearing terrible things (did she get a paralyzing tick-bite, which requires immediate attention or she is going to have permanent damage?) She was not acting normally at all, and the only thing I knew was that she had not appeared injured while she played earlier. I was really worried. And I wished Mark was there.

By bedtime, she was walking on her own (although with a limp). In fact, she wouldn't let me help. I've never been happier to hear "I do it!," because it meant she was acting more normally. She couldn't run, but I was willing to see how she was doing in the morning and make a decision. At 11:00, she woke me with screams when she had tried to roll over in her sleep. I knew it was time to go to the hospital.

After leaving Ethan in Danny's care, we drove to the hospital. I have learned that everything at a hospital takes an eternity, especially if the powers that be don't deem your situation as a real emergency. This experience was no exception. Abby was finally seen about 2 hours after we arrived. The doctor determined that her pain was located in her right hip. After x-rays showed that there were no broken bones, he determined that there may be a muscle sprain (he seemed to be unconvinced of this), a viral infection of the joint, or a bacterial infection of the joint. A viral infection goes away on its own in a couple of days, there is no treatment for it (other than pain management). A bacterial infection requires some very nasty tests to diagnose, and is difficult to clear up. It may require hospitalization to manage. He didn't necessarily think Abby had a bacterial infection (she had no fever, which was a good sign), but he was concerned enough about it to personally call me the next day to check on her.

I'm not my most lucid at 4:00 in the morning. After 5 hours in the ER running on a couple hours of sleep, I'm definitely not the brightest bulb in the marquee. So I pretty much heard that she could have this terrible bacterial infection, and I panicked. What if I miss the signs, and she gets a lot worse? What if she's in more pain than she's indicating? Will Mark have to fly down south to see his daughter in the hospital?

So, to ease my mind, I made an appointment with Jennifer's pediatrician's office for Saturday morning. Jennifer and I trudged the three oldest kids to the doctor, Abby hobbling the whole way.

After listening to my story, the doctor asked me, "has Abby been sick lately?" I was a little taken off-guard. "Yes, actually. She has had this cold for three weeks that she just can't shake. She's been taking 3 hour naps and sleeping in, and her appetite hasn't been normal. I took her to her pediatrician, and he determined it was just a nasty cold." He smiled a little, as only a man who has just figured out the solution to a problem can. "I'm fairly certain, especially since Abby has had no fever, that a viral infection is the cause of her hip problem. It seems very likely that the same virus that gave her the nasty cold has travelled to her hip." And that's when I had my "a-ha" moment. If the ER doctor had asked me the same question, I doubt I would have been at the pediatrician's office that morning. The doctor ordered some blood work to quickly determine if a bacterial infection was likely, and the results were negative.

By Sunday morning, Abby was completely back to normal. And Mark and I were extremely relieved. Our daughter can go back to her "healthy-as-a-horse" status now. We're fine with that, thank you very much.