The Family's First Wee Hour Rush to the Emergency Room

It's hard to feel like a good parent when one virus is followed by another with just one week's breathing room in between. Last thursday morning, Ethan was more fuzzy in the middle of the night than the few nights before, crying louder in the night and more frequently. We just thought he was acting up. Finally, I guess, JK put him in our bed. I woke up in shock that Ethan was next to me because I wasn't exercising the care of a mother who knew her young child was next to her. Anyway, I touched him and noticed that he was warmer than usual but didn't give it too much thought thinking he may just be hot sleeping between the parents and fully blanketed. Besides, I was dead tired. So the morning was as usual - rush to get out of the apartment, drop off my two babies, and walk to work.

Then when I went to see Ethan at the MIL's, I noticed that he was very warm again. The MIL assured me that it was because she just bathed him and he was eating and sleeping normal during the day. JK had arranged to have Ethan stay over that night because he was going to be busy in a meeting at the co-op. I was just missing Ethan and wanted to see him before driving home. But Ethan was acting out of norm when he refused to let me go. So my motherly instinct said I should take him home and check his temperature, since the thermameter was home. The ride home was horrible. Ethan cried from the top of his lungs for 30 minutes. Nothing stopped him from screaming and struggling with all his might to get out of his car seat. My only desire was to get home and get help to bring him up since I really can't and shouldn't carry him at this stage of my pregnancy. After numerous calls to JK, he called back just as I was pulling into the garage. Perfect. But he said, "Why is he with you?" In a fit, after explaining why I had to bring him home already, I screamed, "BECAUSE HE IS SICK!" So daddy quietly uttered, "Alright, I'll be right there."

So the night began. Daddy left his meeting and we focused our attention on Ethan. Daddy checked Ethan's temperature - a wopping 104 degrees. Adrenaline started flowing in both of us while Ethan is still his own self wandering around getting into things, with the waddle of a drunk. We dug out the tylenol and forced a dose down his throat. It's cherry flavored and it really doesn't taste bad but this little one figured out that it was not something he had a choice over so of course he had to fight it with major kicking and screams. Then I cooked for Ethan - peas and some other things, and Daddy had cereal and some other crap for dinner. Daddy ran after Ethan and was lucky enough to get him to eat a cup of yogert and drank some milk and lots of animal crackers. Ethan had some peas and some other stuff which I can't recall. Then when his temperature went down to about 101 at about 11:00 pm, we put him to bed, thinking it will continue in that direction. We were really exhausted already.

When Ethan cried at about 1:00 a.m. , I just whispered to JK to soothe him with a hand rubbing his back. Then the next thing I heard was, "He is really hot. Get the thermameter NOW." Off the bed I jumped, which normally would mean serious pain because all my ligaments are loose now, but I can't remember how my hips and joints felt at that moment. I ran to get the thermameter. JK said, "It's 106." My eyes wide open and heart pounding, in disbelief. Daddy said, get the tylenol. I ran to get it. We forced it down Ethan's throat again. Don't know where this little kid got his energy from at 106 fever, but he managed to vomit half of it out in his fierce struggle. I held him with a heartache and noticed he was shaking but still playing with the thermameter. JK said he wasn't shaking. I said he is so we had a little argument there. But JK agreed we should call the pediatrician. It was 2:00 am. For the first time, the pediatrician wanted us to doing something other than to monitor the situation, "Go to the nearest emergency room now and get him checked out." Woah, this has to be serious. We decided to go to NY Presbytarian even though it's not the nearest but that's the pediatrician's hospital and it's one of the best in the nation. At 2:30 a.m., how can there be traffic? So off we went. No traffic and we saw a meter parking space just across from the hospital. Thank God I thought. Everything is going to be okay. By then Ethan's temperature already came down to 102 to 103. So we were making progress.

Progress is not the word to describe an emergency room experience. We were seen by a nurse about 20 minutes after we arrived. Ethan got motrin and his temperature came down quickly to 99 or 100 and stayed there. Then for the next three and a half hours, we were just waiting. Imagine waiting with a sick and cranky child who would only calm down when you are walking around with him in your arms while you are also dead tired. Unimaginable suffering. I felt bad for JK because he did most of that.

When we were finally seen by a doctor, it was good. For the first time, a doctor let me see through an ear probe how a normal ear look and one with an ear infection, cause that's Ethan's right and left ear. But because an ear infection don't normally cause high fever of 106, the doctor wanted a blood test and an urine test for other infections like urinary tract infection. JK assertedly refused any caterer for the urine test . . . and refused it all together because it would be too painful for his little angel. Even our pediatrician who got on the phone with him couldn't change his mind. So we opted to stick a bag in Ethan's diaper and hopefully get him to drink a lot and pee very soon. I knew it was going to be difficult because Ethan had no appetite for anything at those hours of the day . . . not to mention having been awake with no sleep for so many hours. But daddy was correct not to put him through such pain at 15 months of life. Besides, I told him I have to leave the room if the caterer was to be used so that must have made him even more determined to refuse that method. Anyway, Ethan resisted peeing until after the blood test, chest x-ray and a test for possible flu - that was 2.5 hours after the bag was put on him. Oh, the joy of us seeing that pee, inexplicable! We could go home soon ...

After about another hour or so, when the test results came back, Ethan was released with no medication and no diagnosis for why there was a high fever because all the test results were negative. A relief and yet not. For the rest of the day, we monitored him and he slept like a baby most of the day. Both JK and I took a day off even though we both had a lot of work at work. Our son is our priority, we said affirmatively and comforted each other that there shall be no guilt about that.

The rest of the day and weekend, Ethan got better. On Sunday night, we saw red rashes on his body. We were worried again but we had a follow up appointment with Ethan's pediatrician the next morning so we decided to wait unless we see high temperature again. Besides, Ethan was acting normal otherwise.

So what was the cause? Well, apparently there is a virus called Roseola that causes a very high fever for two to three days before the virus reveals itself with a rash. Ethan had finally fought it and would improve from here on. A final relief that came with some knowledge of the cause.

Stay tuned to the next episode . . .

JW