07 May First ER Trip & More Surgery
Remember how I described the pins-and-needles feeling of waiting for Keegan to get sick the first time? How I thought that once he made it through his first illness, I would feel more grounded? Yeah, well that didn’t happen. BUT I’m glad to say that Keegan did make it through his first illness and is back to his happy little self again. Here’s the breakdown of a very crazy and stressful last five days:
Saturday, we learned that Gray’s grandfather had passed away, so we began making arrangements to go down for the funeral as a family – our first overnight trip with Keegan. I had been feeling crappy since about the Tuesday before, but I accredited it to allergies and all the nasty stuff in the air. Keegan didn’t sleep well overnight, and Sunday morning I noticed a little bit of runny stuff down his nose. His temp was a little higher than his usual yet still in the normal range, and his blood pressure & heart rate were great. He was still playing and laughing, so I thought we’d just watch what happened. When I went to put him down for his morning nap, all heck broke loose. He started screaming, and over the course of his usual two-hour nap, he maybe slept 30 minutes in my arms in the rocking chair. When he woke up, we took his temp again and immediately called the transplant coordinator on call as we watched it sky-rocket to 100.5. Now, I know some moms are thinking that’s no big deal, but it is for a transplant baby. When he was still crying and had a temp after a bottle, the coordinator asked us to bring him to the Children’s ER. So, we loaded into the car and sped down the tollroad…we’ll be SOOO happy when the Legacy Children’s ER opens.
Once we were in the ER, Keegan’s temperature stayed at 100.3 or below, and the fever cut-off is 100.4. His bloodwork and cultures looked great, as did an x-ray. He didn’t show any signs of infection, so they started looking at his hernia as a source of his discomfort. Ultimately, our pediatrician thinks he had a 3-day virus, but his distress caused greater pressure on the hernia. So, the surgeons and transplant team think it would be safest to repair that now before it becomes a problem. He is currently scheduled for day surgery for hernia repair and circumcision next Thursday, May 15.
Keegan is doing just fine now. He had to stay with Mamie since Monday, as I started antibiotics and was a potential source of infection for him. When I go to work or run errands, I never stress too much about leaving him because I know I’ll be able to see him in a few hours. He has no problems with separation anxiety yet, so he never gets upset. This time it was pretty hard knowing I couldn’t be around him at all, especially with Gray gone to be with his family too. We have our next clinic visit next Wednesday with a sedated echo and the whole shebang. That should be great to ease everyone’s nerves before the surgery the next day.
Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts for all of us at this time. We are truly in awe of the work God has done in our lives. Getting through these last few days has reminded us that God will not easily abandon His “little fiery one” after such a fierce fight at the beginning. We put our trust in His hands and have faith that He is carrying us through the rough patches.