Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Mystery Illness = Very Sad Girl

It's been a rough few days for Riley. The first signs of a problem happened Saturday when she was running a fever and complaining of neck pain. We gave her OTC medicine and thought nothing more of it. This past Sunday she seemed fine and even went with Charles to visit his parents in Jonesboro. They had a busy day, but, again, she seemed fine. That night she actually came to us just before 8:00 p.m. and told us she was ready for bed (very unusual). She was running a slight fever, so we sent her off to bed.

Monday she woke up in bad shape--she still had the fever, but now she was refusing to eat and could not even keep liquids down. Two to three minutes after taking a sip, she was vomiting all over the floor. This happened about three times before I called the doctor. Her temperature read 103.7 on my digital thermometer!

At the doctor's office, they did a CBC test and tested for strep throat. The strep test was negative, but her white blood count was extremely high (over 21,000). The doctor was worried it could be her appendix, so he told us to go directly to Scottish Rite emergency room. Once we got there, things got crazy. Riley got an IV in her arm (soooo not a fun process); they drew blood; did x-rays, gave her saline solution to re-hydrate her; and even gave her a CT scan. Finally, after discovering she had a blockage in her bowels, they gave her an enema (another horrible procedure for her to endure). The enema worked, which is a good thing. The x-rays and CT proved that the problem was not her kidneys or appendix.

Here she is--closer to the end of our ordeal.


Doesn't she just look pitiful?

Basically, we spent 9 hours in the ER to find out that they really aren't sure what the problem is. It's some sort of viral or bacterial infection. They sent us home since Riley was finally able to take in fluid and keep it down and told us to just watch her and call our doctor for a follow-up appointment.

Today was a bit better--no vomiting--but Riley still had a fever of 101.8. She got up and crawled in the recliner and did not move for hours. She actually slept in the chair for a couple of those hours. All she had eaten was a piece of toast and a granola bar. I called the doctor and told them the situation and they called the hospital to get her records sent over. They called me back and told me to bring her in this afternoon.

More tests today--flu (even though she had a flu shot weeks ago), strep, CBC--and things were all negative. By the time the doctor took her temp, it was up to 102.6. Her white blood cell count had dropped (just over 17,000). Again, they sent us home with no real explanation of what could be causing this.

I guess tomorrow will be another "wait and see" day. At least she started to perk up this evening and seems to have returned to normal in the temperature department. I just hope this is all over soon and she returns to her old self.

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