Home from the Hospital

Sweet Luke is all smiles in his hospital gown.

On Wednesday, October 27, the daycare called me at work to tell me that Luke was inconsolable and cried every time someone tried to touch his right leg. They said he wouldn't walk and hadn't all morning. When I brought him home, he was still inconsolable, so we headed to the doctor immediately. The doctor did routine exams, checked his ears, nose, mouth, and then asked me to place Luke in a corner and have him walk to me. I did, but Luke just stood there and cried. He wouldn't move. The doctor then decided to X-ray his leg and check his blood. He was concerned that he might have osteomyelitis, a bone infection. The reason he thought this is because Luke had a low-degree temperature (100.7) and was refusing to use his leg, which at this point was swollen and stiffening into a 90-degree angle. We went home, waiting for the results of the blood tests.

Thursday, the doctor's office called me on the way to work (Luke still wasn't walking). The blood test indicated his inflammation levels were high, and they wanted us to return for more tests. So, we did, and we waited again for those tests to return.

Friday, the doctor himself called Adam and said Luke's inflammation levels were going up, and he was concerned. He wanted us to take him to Dell Children's Hospital. At this point, Luke was unbelievably cranky, still wouldn't walk, wanted us to carry him most everywhere and wasn't sleeping. We stayed overnight with the understanding that he'd have a bone scan the next day (Saturday). They drew more blood and observed the way he played on the floor. They poked him, prodded him. The next morning, his blood tests indicated that the inflammation was going down, so they sent us home without a bone scan and with a diagnosis of toxic synovitis. They'd determined that a 24-hour stomach virus he'd had a week before had lingered in his system, landed in his knee and would run its course.

So, we went home. We gave him ibuprofen, but he didn't seem to get any better and his knee seemed to get bigger. When we saw our pediatrician again on Tuesday, November 1, he took more blood and ordered us to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon took one look at Luke's knee and said, "I'm draining that." And, he did so right there in the room. He took a big needle, and as Adam and I held Luke down screaming, he aspirated Luke's knee. He said he could tell by the look of the fluid that it was infected. An hour later, we met him back at the hospital so he could perform surgery to drain his knee.

It took about 45 minutes, and they had to put Luke under. When he woke up ... wow. He was mad. And confused. It took him about two hours to get the anesthesia out of his system, and he was so hungry and thirsty. That first night was rough. Not only because he'd been through so much already, but the nurses came in every four hours to take vitals. And, he'd wake up each time. I don't think the three of us slept much at all.

After his knee surgery, Luke couldn't get enough apple juice. He was so thirsty.

My coworkers sent balloons, and Luke was really excited!

It was difficult to find ways to feed him in the hospital room. Seemed it was so messy! I didn't find out until the last day that they had little toddler highchairs.

Two days later Luke underwent an MRI to rule out a bone infection, and it did, thank God. It took two hours because the doctors also inserted a PICC line, which is an IV that goes from his arm to the vein above his heart. That way the doctors didn't have to continue using a regular IV which can aggravate the blood vessels and Adam and I can administer antibiotics at home. Again, he woke from the anesthesia pretty grumpy but pulled through a little more quickly and was back to himself in a few hours.

The playroom had a music lesson one afternoon, and Luke went to town on the drums and maracas.

We spent five days at the hospital, finally coming home yesterday, Saturday, November 5. The diagnosis is that he has septic knee, which is curable. The doctors are 70% sure that this is what it is -- his cultures haven't yielded any bacteria, so it's not following the typical pattern for septic knee, but they're hesitant to call it something chronic like rheumatoid arthritis. We'll visit those possibilities if he doesn't get better from the antibiotics.

For the next three weeks, Adam and I will give him two different antibiotics three times a day. So far, we've done fine. I won't lie -- I was so scared to come home and be responsible for his medication. Through an IV?! We're not nurses! But, they gave us a short training at the hospital and the home health care nurse came by yesterday to give us another overview and drop off this week's medication. He's still not walking, but he's moving around better than he has been the past two weeks. Plus he's not wincing when you touch his leg or taking anymore pain medication, which is good.

Adam gives Luke his antibiotics while he's taking a nap at home today. We're getting the hang of it.

I've learned a lot about myself this week. Mostly that I need to look at the positives about this situation rather than the negatives. It's so unbelievably hard to see your child in so much pain and unable to do anything about it. And, to see them so uncomfortable in the hospital is just as bad. But, as hard as this is for me and Adam, it's more difficult for Luke. I pray every day that these antibiotics work and he gets better. Wouldn't that be wonderful? We'll see. All we can do is remain hopeful and optimistic.

I wonder if the range of emotions I've felt is normal. I've gone from extremely sad that he's in pain, to mad that it's my kid who has to go through this, to frustrated that the doctors don't know exactly what it is, to relieved that it's not a bone infection. I'm completely exhausted, so I can imagine how Luke must feel. After all, it's happening to him, poor thing. The good thing is that we have an amazing amount of friends and family who have reached out to us. Just knowing that people are thinking about us is helpful therapy.

Right now the plan is to keep him home for the next three weeks. My work has been understanding about the situation, and my mom and Adam's mom will help, too. Operation: Get Luke Better (and Walking)!