Crazy Lindsey Story

It all began when Nancy and I went together for Lindsey's first check-up.  Lindsey had been having trouble keeping her temperature warm enough and I brought up my concern with the doctor.  He took her temp and when it came out to 74 degrees he immediately ordered some testing and our visit turned into a three hour ordeal! A catheter was ordered for Lindsey and she managed to pee on the table right before the tube was inserted.  They tried anyway and needless to say they were not able to gather enough liquid for testing.  We then went into the lab to get blood work done.  After digging around multiple times in each arm it was determined that Lindsey needed a break (so did I!) and I fed her.  Another attempt was made without success and it was determined that the blood was going to be collected through a heel prick instead of a clean catch through her vein. We then headed down the hall to the doctor’s office again for a second attempt at a catheter.  Immediately as we opened her diaper she peed on the table again!  They were, however, able to collect barely enough urine for testing. All told she peed on the table three times during her visit and she pooped on the table twice.  I joked with the doctor that she was just showing off how healthy she was.

Fast forward to two days later at midnight.  I had just fed Lindsey and was getting dressed for bed when the phone rang. It was the doctor.  She told me that bacteria had been discovered in Lindsey's blood and that we had to get to the hospital right away!  Lovely.

I arrived at 12:30 groggy but anxious.  The nurses informed me that bacteria in the blood is very scary and it was wonderful that we caught it early.  The bad news was we would need to stay in the hospital for seven to ten days for Lindsey to receive the antibiotics intravenously. Wow.  I was so relieved that she would get the help she needed, and I was very grateful that Greg and Nancy were here to watch the other kids while I was at the hospital.  

The first order of business was to wake up our sweet girl and give her another catheter and begin an I.V. line.  The doctor arrived shortly after these were finished.  She proceeded to tell me that Lindsey would be receiving two antibiotics, one was completely safe, but the other one could cause irreversible hearing loss.  Ack!  At my surprise she huffed that the benefits definitely outweigh the risks of not treating the infection.  After speaking with three nurses it was confirmed that through their combined 42 years of experience there was only one case where this actually happened.  It was also confirmed that this combination of antibiotics is used very routinely (4 people in the pediatric ward were currently using it).  It was also confirmed that this doctor was sleep deprived and grumpy because she had to wake up to come and see us.  

Fast forward to the end of the story.  Three days after our arrival we were released. The new blood sample and urine sample both came up clean.  It was determined that the blood sample from the lab was contaminated because it was a heel prick and not a clean catch.

The moral of the story- I am extremely grateful for modern medicine and the prompt attention that was given to Lindsey.  If this had been an emergency situation it was handled very well by the medical personnel involved.  The second moral of the story is to have insurance!  And finally- I was secretly glad for those three days that I had uninterrupted time with my new little girl.