Majority of this is from a post to the mudpud list – its too much to type it all again – makes me cry :~(
Thought our experience over the last 24 hours was worth a cautionary tale. Obviously it rare, but after talkingto the nurses today, its not THAT rare and i would hate anyone to go through what i have just been through.
Obviously Bubba (14 months) had chicken pox – the spots started coming out on Tuesday – and appeared more and more over the next couple of days. She had had impetigo but it was under control, although it had been coming back but it was not active during the pox spots coming out – she did have some patches of eczema that had got quite sore which, because of the impetigo, we had not been able to use steroid cream on for ages. (thank god) So her legs were very sore and dry.
On Thursday night the spots started to join up and her throat sounded very raw – i got a bit nervous and called a doc out who was really good, gave us an instant antibiotic, which unfortunately we just could not get down her, and rang first thing to check how she was. We had had a terrible night and i was very bleary – i thought she seemed better and said so so he rang off. But when i woke up a bit i realized she really was not too good at all; very hot, not particularly aware of what was going on, drifting between being awake and asleep and just even spottier; by now her legs were completely red and raised, boiling hot – her face barely had any space between spots either.
I called the doc back, who rang straight for a place on the childrens ward. By the time i got there Bubba was hysterical – she had had every painkiller going and i still could not hold her, her temp was soaring so that i took her in naked, she could hardly bear to be touched. They sedated her straight away which was such a relief for her cos she had barely slept in 48 hours and she just zonked – but i knew from the speed they got the antibiotics and anti-virals into her arm that we were not messing about. Then they checked her over for meningitis and banned anyone from going in or out of the room. They said that she might get worse very very fast but they would do all they could to stop it getting worse. It was NOT a good moment.
When she woke i couldn’t hold her – she just could not bear anything to touch her – she ended up lying on the floor screaming, and so it went on till about 3am, when they gave her a different sedative, the first of the evening having failed to get her off. She eventually dropped off in my arms just before 4 and slept till 8am. But in the middle of the night i asked if it was developing into septaecemia or encephalitis but all they would say was that if anything COULD prevent that, the drugs she was getting would. Nobody could say “no” 🙁 I cannot begin to describe the experience of sitting alone in that ward in the middle of the night wondering if the next few hours would be the start of losing my baby :((
Anyway – by this morning she was clearly a little better – there was less red around the spots and her eyes were more alert, although she was, and still is, very hot and grumpy and still getting more new spots. She had a bath, and fell asleep sat up in it! and then slept for several more hours, and woke up more alert still and able to drink and eat chocolate 🙂 And as the day wore on she started to sit up, do some baby chat and make an attempt at playing. So we have come home – mainly cos she pointed at a pic of fran and moo and started to wail – she was much happier to be around them at home.
I tried to take some photos but the camera only takes black photos now (ggrrrr…) but my god this was a shock. i could never have believed it could be so vile – but the nurses said they almost always have one bad chicken pox case on the ward. One of the nurses had cared for Pud at addenbrookes and was our special today – she told me about the little girl opposite us who had started to recover from chicken pox but got exposed to the … hmmm… strep or staph bug – and currently has welts deeper than a third degree burn that look like raw steak over most of her body 🙁
I am just so horrified by our experience – another 24 hours at home and i am not sure she would have got out of it alive at all. Although Pud having ops was scary, its always been us worried and nurses/doctors being reassuring – it was very strange to not have people around me who could just allay my fears because they believed it would just all be fine.
Anyway – i give up – i’ve tried really hard to be more radical about my girls healthcare but i can’t do it anymore – if that had been measles doing that to her i think i would have died of guilt. I’m just going to have to give up and be conventional about it and hope for the best. I won’t have a seconds peace now till i know Ams has got absolutely no chance of getting anything so horrible again that i can prevent 🙁 I seem destined to have the scary “rare occurences”: prolapsed cords, ruptured uteruses, complications of chicken pox….
Addendum
She is quite a lot better today – she slept through the night and woke hot but after calpol and nurofen the temp did not return although she has been grumpy at times. She loved a bath with bicarb in it and has gone naked for most of the day. Tonight the spots are mainly scabbed over and the red from around them is largely gone – her bottom and knees are the worst now. She is a bit sensitive to bright light and very very wobbly but otherwise much brighter – i think she is gonig to take a while to recover though…
Sigh….Chicken Pox Complications
Chicken Pox in your baby: What you need to know
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