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Just got back from the hospital...
10/4/10 10:45 pmNo, not me or Mike, but our 31 year old son Patrick. Yesterday he was complaining of a sore knee, and stayed home from work today because he was also nauseous and had several rounds of diarrhea during the night.
Mike heard him holler in the afternoon, went up to see what was wrong, and Patrick's right leg from the ankle to the calf was swollen, red, and extremely painful! He couldn't even get his jeans over it, so I got him a pair of baggy flannel pajama pants I have, we got him dressed, and took him to the ER.
They pulled blood, and found that his white count was 38 or more (I don't remember). Based on that, his fever, and how his leg looked, they decided he was septic, and they went on what they call "Sepsis Protocol". They admitted him to the hospital, and immediately hooked him up to 500 mL of saline, which they pushed rapidly. Then they gave him IV rocephin, followed by IV Levaquin.
Of course I asked exactly what they were giving him, and they cheerfully told me. When the doctor handling his case came in, she told us in more detail what they'd be doing -- essentially giving him fluids and alternating Levaquin and vancomycin IV.
My ears pricked up at vancomycin, and I questioned that. I told her that since I was a wobbler because of gentamicin, I was worried about any of the aminoglycosides, especially gent and vanco. She asked me when I was damaged, and I told her 6 years ago. She told me that they now monitor the peaks and troughs automatically through the pharmacy, and they don't give another dose until they know how the previous one was tolerated. They check for balance and hearing acuity before and after every dose of an aminoglycoside, and they stop them if there's any problem.
I was somewhat mollified, but not completely, so I told Patrick to be sure and pay attention to his balance, his vision (oscillopsia) and his hearing, and if ANYTHING went wonky, to tell them right then.
He's now settled in a comfy bed, with his TV remote, his fluids, and his antibiotics. I made sure he got something to eat (he hadn't eaten all day), and didn't want to leave, but knew he needed to get some rest. When he was born, we couldn't take him home for a month because he had aspiration pneumonia, and we almost lost him. It was horribly difficult to see him lying in a hospital bed, all sick with that swollen, red leg, and not be able to do anything about it. If I could make that leg be my leg, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Funny, isn't it, how no matter how old your kids get, they're always your little children.... they never get so old you stop worrying about them and wishing you could take their aches and pains onto yourself...
If you have any spare positive thoughts, please send a few to my wonderful son, Patrick.
Mike heard him holler in the afternoon, went up to see what was wrong, and Patrick's right leg from the ankle to the calf was swollen, red, and extremely painful! He couldn't even get his jeans over it, so I got him a pair of baggy flannel pajama pants I have, we got him dressed, and took him to the ER.
They pulled blood, and found that his white count was 38 or more (I don't remember). Based on that, his fever, and how his leg looked, they decided he was septic, and they went on what they call "Sepsis Protocol". They admitted him to the hospital, and immediately hooked him up to 500 mL of saline, which they pushed rapidly. Then they gave him IV rocephin, followed by IV Levaquin.
Of course I asked exactly what they were giving him, and they cheerfully told me. When the doctor handling his case came in, she told us in more detail what they'd be doing -- essentially giving him fluids and alternating Levaquin and vancomycin IV.
My ears pricked up at vancomycin, and I questioned that. I told her that since I was a wobbler because of gentamicin, I was worried about any of the aminoglycosides, especially gent and vanco. She asked me when I was damaged, and I told her 6 years ago. She told me that they now monitor the peaks and troughs automatically through the pharmacy, and they don't give another dose until they know how the previous one was tolerated. They check for balance and hearing acuity before and after every dose of an aminoglycoside, and they stop them if there's any problem.
I was somewhat mollified, but not completely, so I told Patrick to be sure and pay attention to his balance, his vision (oscillopsia) and his hearing, and if ANYTHING went wonky, to tell them right then.
He's now settled in a comfy bed, with his TV remote, his fluids, and his antibiotics. I made sure he got something to eat (he hadn't eaten all day), and didn't want to leave, but knew he needed to get some rest. When he was born, we couldn't take him home for a month because he had aspiration pneumonia, and we almost lost him. It was horribly difficult to see him lying in a hospital bed, all sick with that swollen, red leg, and not be able to do anything about it. If I could make that leg be my leg, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Funny, isn't it, how no matter how old your kids get, they're always your little children.... they never get so old you stop worrying about them and wishing you could take their aches and pains onto yourself...
If you have any spare positive thoughts, please send a few to my wonderful son, Patrick.
