Phlegmon

On Saturday morning I noticed that Katy's face was a little swollen under her chin. I didn't think too much of it but after her morning nap, it was even more swollen and a little red. Sean felt it and it was rock hard and hot. Katy squirmed when we touched it. We decided to take her to the doctor.

After feeling around and asking some questions, the doctor told us that she probably had some kind of bacterial infection. He was concerned that she had an abscess (a localized collection of pus in the tissues of the body, often accompanied by swelling and inflammation and frequently caused by bacteria.) and would possibly need to be surgically drained. And since it appeared that day, had been getting bigger, and all of their pediatric surgeons were unavailable, AND it was so close to her airway, he suggested we go to Primary Children's Hospital right then.

Luckily, Brandon had been staying with G&G Mower for the past few days and it worked out great for him to just stay with them. (Thanks!!) We left the doctors office and drove straight to Salt Lake, not knowing how long we would be gone or what was going to happen.

It was an emotional time. I wasn't afraid for Katy's life or anything but just the thought of my little baby being hooked up to an IV and possibly having surgery was really overwhelming. She's so little and I didn't want her to be in any pain.

On the drive to Salt Lake. So tired. So swollen.

When we got to the hospital there was lots of waiting. Every now and then a nurse and doctor would come in and ask questions and look at Katy. They wanted to draw some blood and do a CT scan on her. Two nurses came to put an IV in Katy. It took all of us to hold her down so they could get the IV in and get some blood.  Her hand was all taped up and it was so sad!! She cried a lot and wanted to be held. Dad was good and making her feel better by watching Sesame Street videos on his phone. Thank goodness for technology...

After a little more waiting they did a CT scan on her. You have to be perfectly still during a CT scan so they strapped her legs, arms and head down and Sean and I had to occupy and distract her so she would stay still and not cry. Sean blew bubbles and I showed her this weird little wand that lit up and played music and it did the trick.

After more waiting the doctor came back in and said that her swelling was not an abscess and she wouldn't need to have surgery. PHEW!!! She had was it called a phlegmon (Acute suppurative inflammation affecting the subcutaneous connective tissue.), which is a stage before abscess. If we had waited a day or so longer to bring her in it probably would have progressed to an abscess.

They wanted to get some antibiotics in her and we would be staying a couple of days in the hospital. Our first night was awful, of course. Getting settled into a room and getting Katy hooked up took a few hours. Lots of doctors (and student nurses/doctors) coming to see Katy and poke and prod her and ask questions. Katy had been having a cold for a little over a week which could have caused this infection. Sean and I have also been sick and I had a little strep throat which could have been passed on to her and caused the infection and swelling as well. 

We finally got to get some sleep at about 1:30 in the morning. Katy was exhausted and starving. Her bedtime is 7pm and she hadn't had any dinner yet. She ate some banana and had some juice and was finally able to relax and fall asleep. She would only sleep in our arms. It was so sweet. I could tell that she trusted us and knew we would protect her and comfort her. I'm so glad she knows that.

Sunday was full of antibiotics in her IV, waiting, napping, and wondering. Katy would cry so hard every time someone came in to check on her. I could tell Katy still didn't feel good. She wasn't eating very well, was super sleepy, and just wanted to cuddle. She had a few visitors that day which perked us all  up. Aunt Aimee and Aunt Angie came to bring Sean and me some lunch and I was dying for a hair thing so I could pull my hair back! Thanks guys!!! G&G DeFreese also came and brought Katy some clean clothes and a phone charger for us. Our phones were dying since we had nothing with us to charge them with. That morning Sean used the car charger to charge our phones and was sitting out in the cold car for like 2 hours. And they weren't even charged all the way.

Our second night in the hospital was much better...for Katy. She slept all night long but fell asleep on the little couch that was in the room. We didn't want to move her so Sean and I took turns laying with her on the couch and sleeping in the non-reclining chair that was in the room. Long rough night for us. Why would they even have non-reclining chairs?!

On Monday Katy was in much better spirits. She played with toys, ate some good food, and was much more herself. She never did sleep in the crib that was in the room but she found a way to get some use out of it. :)

Not hooked up to anything and got to walk around!

The doctors came in the afternoon and told us that she was progressing. The swelling had gone down a bit and they thought could be on oral antibiotics and go home!! We left at around 6pm that night and were so glad to go home!!

We were all so glad to be home. Katy was giggling and running around playing with all of her toys. So cute. We all showered/bathed and got into clean clothes. The hospital let Sean and I take a shower there, which was great, but then we had to get dressed in our dirty clothes again so it kinda defeated the purpose. It felt so good to be in clean clothes!

Katy is doing well now. She slept great all night last night and is happy and healthy. Her antibiotics don't taste that great so it's a challenge to get her to take it but I'd rather do it here than have her be hooked up at the hospital.

We are so thankful for all the doctors and nurses who took such good care of Katy. Such a great hospital. Whenever I would call food services to order Katy some food they would say, "What can we get for Katy?" Can you send thank you cards to hospitals? We are also thankful for our family and friends who prayed for Katy and helped us out so much. Glad this is over!!