OUR LAST MONTH........

March 24, 2010

Yep, that is Zach in a hospital bed. It started on Friday, March 19 when I took Zachary into the doctor with a 102 degree temp. The Doctor looked him over gave him a Strep test that came back negative and told me he thought that he had something called Adnovirus and it was going around. He said that he would probably have a temp for the next 5 days and to just treat it with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Well all weekend his fever would spike to 106 degrees every 3 hours. I kept calling all the Dr's that were on call that weekend and they all reassured me that if he did have Adnovirus that this was common. Finally, on Sunday we made an appointment to see the Dr. that was on call. She preformed another Strep test and it came back negative. She sent us down to the ER at Timpanogos Hospital for some blood work. Finally after sitting in the ER for 2 hours we asked how much longer and they of course had no clue. We decided that I would just take Zachary to our pediatrician in the morning. It was 11pm on Sunday so by the time they even had the results it would be morning.

So Monday morning I took him to our pediatrician and he looked him over again and said that he really thought that he had Adnovirus and it was normal for him to have this high of a fever. Finally after he realized the whole time I had been taking his temp under his arm he got really nervous. Because it really is one degree higher under your arm, so all weekend it was around 107 degrees. He did s0me blood work to test his white blood cells and was worried when it was high. He sent us to the hospital for blood work and a test to see if it really was Adnovirus.

The test results finally came back around 7pm and the Dr. called me and was really worried and asking me if Zachary was moving his head. I told him that Zach had been screaming since I got back from the hospital. He said the blood work had him worried that Zach might have bacterial meningitis. He wanted us at the hospital as soon as we could get there. Of course all this is going on when my mom and both my brothers are out of town for the weekend. When we got to the hospital they were ready to prep him for a spinal tap. I was trying not to show how hysterical I really was, but this was only the beginning of the scariest thing that has ever happened to us.

March 24, 2010

The results came back negative along with at least a 2 dozen other things they had tested him for. The Adnovirus test also came back negative. We were in the hospital for 4 days and 3 nights. They started him on a iv antibiotic and he pretty much slept through the whole hospital stay. They never found out what he had at this point so Thursday morning they let us go home and decided that he had gotten a cold and it had infected his lymph nodes and that is why he had a fever and they were so swollen.

We were home and Zach was really tired but hadn't had another fever and seemed to be doing okay. We were suppose to go see our Pediatrician Monday morning when Alyssa woke up throwing up. I called and talked to him personally and told him Zach seemed to be doing okay except his lymph nodes were still swollen. He didn't seem to concerned and planned to see us Wednesday.

Everything was fine so I decided to go back to work Tuesday morning. It was about 10am Tuesday morning and my cell phone rang and said it was our Pediatrician when I answered I could tell something was the matter just by the tone in his voice. He was asking me all these questions like. How is Zach? Fine I guess. Was he more irritable than normal? Yes. Were his eyes red when all this began? Yes. Was there any rash that I had noticed? Yes, but just under his arms and I just thought that it was eczema. Finally I just asked him what he thought was going on. He explained that he had been at a seminal that morning at Utah Vally Hospital that the Infectious Disease Doctor from Primary Children's Hospital was giving on a disease called Kawasaki's. He explained that he talked to him about Zach afterward and they both thought this might be it. He needed me to take him to get blood work right away. I was of course in a panic again I really thought all this was behind us. Little did I know this was just the beginning!

I took him to Payson Hospital for the blood work and with in 45 minutes the Pediatrician was calling saying the blood work looked like this was it. He wanted me at Utah Valley right now. I couldn't believe this was even happening. This could not be happening to Zach. Of course Jason was in Salt Lake at work and had car pooled with someone.

We got to Utah Valley and our Pediatrician and the Infectious Disease Doctor were waiting for us. They explained there is not a true test for Kawasaki's Disease it is just based of blood work and symptoms. They also explained that it is swelling in your arteries and that it can cause aneurysm's around your coronary arteries of your heart. The only cure is a blood product called intravenous immunoglobulin which comes from 20,000 blood donors. They explained all the risks and told me I had to make a decision right then because they have to give it before day 10 of fever onset. Hello!!!!! It was day 12! Of course the risks out way the benefits especially when they are talking about aneurysm's around my baby's heart.

They went ahead with the IVIG and gave it to him over a 12 hour period and he seemed to be doing okay and not having any complications from it. The next morning they had set up for him to have a sedated Echo Cardiogram to check his heart. They also told me that they would be doing 3 Echo Cardiograms over the next 6 weeks. One that morning and another in 2 weeks and the last one at 6 weeks. They had explained that the first one usually isn't the one that shows the damage it is usually at 2 or 6 weeks that they would find any damage.

They came up to our room and sedated him which was really scary since this was the first time that he has had any type of anesthesia. He seemed to do okay except not wanting to be woken up after word and crying a lot.

March 31, 2010 after his Echo Cardiogram

When the results came back the Pediatrician called our room and told me the good news was that there wasn't any damage from the Kawasaki's but........ they found some abnormalities that he was born with. You know that your life is falling apart when all your Dr. can say is "I am so sorry that every time I talk to you I have bad news." They found out that on his aorta he only has 2 valves instead of 3 it's called a bicuspid aorta. Since the blood is having to pump harder, he also has a dilated ascending aorta and a dilated aortic root. He said that he doesn't think it will be a problem now but defiantly when he gets older it will be. He said that the Dr. that read his Echo Cardiogram was going to refer us to a pediatric Cardiologist at Primary Children's Hospital.

After all this horrible news they told us that they would be discharging us since Zach seemed to be doing so well.

Yeah, he did well until we got to the pharmacy to get him his 81mg Aspirin ( they have him on Aspirin to help prevent aneurysm's around his heart.) He started throwing up. I just figured that it was from the anesthesia. He seemed to do okay for the next hour or two. When Jason got home he started throwing up about every 20 minutes and couldn't keep anything down. I called the Pediatrician and he said the same thing that it is probably the anesthesia and to call him in the morning if he was still sick. Well by 8pm he had a 103 degree temperature and was lethargic. We were using both thermometers and under both arms totally convinced that he didn't have a fever he hadn't had a fever for a week. I called the Pediatrician again and he said to meet him back at the hospital. I couldn't believe it! We hadn't even been home for 5 hours. When we got there they of course started another IV and did more blood work and took some other tests on him. His white blood count came back at 23,000 which is extremely high. They started thinking that maybe the Kawasaki's had inflamed his gallbladder or that he might have appendicitis. So the next morning Zachary had an ultrasound of all his organs to make sure that they all looked normal . Thank goodness they all looked well. But all the Dr's were still trying to figure out why he had a temperature. We were there for another 2 nights and they still found nothing.

April 1, 2010

Well, we have been home for a little over 2 weeks and Zachary seems to be doing well. He is really tired and kinda grumpy. But hopefully all is on the up and up..... He had another Echo Cardiogram last Thursday and they said that they didn't see any aneurysms around his coronary arteries.

April 15, 2010 after his 2nd Echo Cardiogram

We are so happy that we are home and that Zachary is doing better. We came home 2 days before Easter, Alyssa was really worried the Easter Bunny wouldn't know where to find Zachary and her. Through all of this we sure have come to appreciate our children. It has taught us that when you really think things are bad and they can't get any worse they sure can. And that really everything materialistic doesn't matter just as long as your children are well.

We go to Primary Children's Hospital next Monday to meet with the Cardiologist to see what the future holds for Zachary's heart condition. Hopefully it is just something we will need to keep a close eye on.