Our First Trip to the ER

Sadie is 3 years old & fortunately she is our healthy child & we haven't made any trips to the ER yet, until now. Not for her, but for her little sister. Poor Sophie! I have posted occasionally about her digestive problems & over Christmas they only got worse. Her GI doctor wanted her to try another round of food before Christmas so he asked us to give her level 1 carrots - plain, pureed baby food. I gave her half a jar on Friday & Saturday the weekend before Christmas & she loved it & did great. By Sunday morning she started vomiting & she was sick from Sunday - Sunday, the entire week of Christmas. She vomited with at least 2-3 of her meals & she slept about 18-20 hours a day. In fact, when she wasn't sleeping, she was horribly fussy & no fun to be around. She only wanted to be held & she was even fussy when you were holding her. We met with her GI doctor before we went to Conroe & he basically said that he has run every test that he knows to do & he thought it was a food issue & not a GI issue. He said there was nothing else he could do so he recommended we get a second opinion from a different GI doctor.

 

Fast forward to last week. We had a follow up appointment with her allergist & he was concerned that her "episodes" were getting worse, especially since she is sleeping so much. He still had concerns that it wasn't a food issue but a GI issue, but he hadn't ruled everything out yet. He suggested that every time we test her or bring her in, she is normal so why don't we try treating her while she is sick. Brilliant idea - why didn't we think of this sooner?! He asked us to start another round of food & when she started her next "episode" he wanted us to bring her straight to the ER at Children's Hospital in Dallas to have her admitted. Unfortunately, we didn't even start a new round of food but she woke up on Saturday vomiting so we took her to the ER that night:

 

 

I was impressed with the ER because we were registered, checked in, triaged & back in her own personal room in one hour. This picture above was her sitting in the waiting room. She did awesome & didn't fuss at all. Once we finally made it to our private room, she crashed:

 

 

Unfortunately they woke her up because they had to install an IV & draw blood:

 

 

They had problems the first time & blew a vein that bled pretty bad so she was definitely uncomfortable until they finally got it right the second time. See the way they have it secure & all wrapped up? That was to keep her from messing with it but it didn't last long - she pulled it off right away. She still has the iv in her arm but is not hooked up so it is a constant battle because she continues to pull it or chew on it.

 

Of course she didn't throw up in the ER when I fed her. Bryan & I joke that she had stage fright :) And I was getting push back from the ER doctors to admit her because they said she could be treated outpatient. I have heard this same comments from the general pediatric hospitalist, but luckily her allergy doctor has been fighting for her & convinced the GI team to get involved so they finally admitted her to the hospital. We got settled in her room & finally asleep around 2:00 Saturday night/Sunday morning.

 

Sunday morning she got sick & threw up her entire morning bottle. Thankfully several nurses & one of the doctors saw her so that helped. We spent most of the day with her sleeping or playing in her crib:

 

 

They haven't been able to find a shirt or pajamas big enough for her & the gowns she pulls right off. I had pajamas for her, but they were vomited on, so she is sporting a 6 month onesie that is so short we didn't button it & left it open like a t-shirt.

 

My parents sent a care package to surprise her & cheer her up:

 

 

She loved the balloons & has been playing with them. My mom even ordered a Frozen balloon so Sadie would have one & wouldn't be jealous. They were attached to a play cell phone which she loves! It never leaves her side in the crib.

 

Finally, we saw the GI doctor yesterday afternoon & after reviewing her medical records from her previous GI doctor, they told me that they think she has a motility issue. Meaning the food is getting stuck in her stomach & is not flowing through her system like it should be. The formula she eats is a special kind that already has the proteins broken down, so when I feed her formula, it goes through her system easier. But when I introduce anything besides that formula, such as food or the prescription pudding that we have been giving her, it builds up in her stomach & comes back up because it has no where else to go. They recommended a medicine that would help her stomach relax & push things along, so she started that yesterday afternoon & had already had 3 rounds of it. They also did an ultrasound yesterday afternoon since she hasn't had one yet:

 

 

Luckily I took this picture early on because she did not enjoy this. It's not even painful, but they made her fast & since she threw up her morning bottle, she hadn't eaten in 9 hours. She was hungry, tired & they made her lay there for 30 minutes while I held her down because she wouldn't stay still. We found out earlier today that her ultrasound looked normal.

 

When we got back to our room, we had a couple of people waiting for us:

 

 

Sophie was so excited to see Sadie! And Sadie was so sweet & brought Sophie her tv remote from home. It's just an old tv remote that doesn't have batteries in it, but Sophie likes playing with it so Sadie brought it for her to play with. Such a sweet big sister! They just hugged & kissed on each other & Sadie cried when she had to go home because she wanted to stay with us.

 

Bryan's parents also stopped by last night so I enjoyed the company:

 

 

We fed Sophie while she was here & she kept everything down & played good. I really think the visitors cheered her up:

 

 

After they left, I gave her one more bottle, which she also kept down & then she went straight to sleep. The sweet nurses let her go all night without bothering her. They aren't worried about her vitals since she is otherwise healthy, they are just monitoring her vomiting while she eats.

 

She slept 12 great hours last night & woke up in a good mood. I thought maybe the medicine was working, but then I gave her morning bottle & it happened all over again. Ugh! It is so frustrating. So we have seen the allergist & the hospitalist this morning, but we are waiting to see GI to see what they want to do next. We were going to start giving her food today thinking that would medicine would help, but they are wanting us to wait & get her vomiting under control with the formula before we move back to food.

 

We would appreciate any prayers for her & her team of doctors as she is monitored. Obviously she is healthy & we aren't concerned about anything serious, but I really hope we can find the solution to her digestive problems so we can learn how to manage them going forward.