Finally have a DIAGNOSIS!!

The past few days have been hell! After we got the call from the doctor on Friday that his blood tests were back and he wanted to see thegrandson Saturday morning at 9:20am, we thought we were going to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment...NOT! We were slightly late for the appointment, as we had to travel 20 mph, in an ice storm. But we were definitely going to get to the hospital. As soon as we got in the office, the doctor told us he was admitting thegrandson for IV treatment of this malady...which was not specific by a longshot. They were "leaning" towards Kawasaki's disease, and thereby treating it as a bacterial infection with strong antibiotics. He was admitted to a private room, with sterile procedures, and masks and gown required (although we never wore them). Poor little guy was so miserable upon getting the IV hookup and all the hustle and bustle of the hospital staff as seen here:

The hospital experience was initially quite overwhelming to the little guy. Since Saturday, the skin on his little fingers has virtually peeled off in clumps and we have been cutting the fingers out of latex gloves and taping them around his fingers because they hurt so bad. Whatever this is, it is very ugly.

Since the doctors were not giving a definitive diagnosis and saying it could be staph or it could be strep...we were worried that if it was Kawasaki's, there is a 10 day window to administer the immuno globulins. I kept saying if they are unsure, why not administer these anti-bodies, as a safe course of action. I hadn't thought about the rejection factor at all, just worried about the effects on this little guys heart.

FINALLY, this afternoon, the nurse came in and said his test results had been returned from Pittsburgh (no one told us there were "pending" test results anywhere), and his titers were "thru the roof!" He has a strep infection of the blood. The skin peeling is a form of necrotizing fascitis (skin-eating disease.) The antibiotics have been upped and all the skin peeling should stop and start healing.

Doctors like to treat us like we are morons, when nothing could be further from the truth, and questions I had, and have no problem making them known! I am sighing with relief now, and maybe we can all start to get some rest. If thegrandson can take this medicine orally, he should be coming home soon. The first oral dose today did not go well...the taste is disgusting. He also has to start eating and drinking, which has not improved at all, so we are keeping our fingers crossed he will be home tomorrow or the next day.

I am going to try and get some sleep tonight, the daughter is finding out the really hard part of being a mother (and this grandmother is suffering for the little snot too!)

Check out his hospital pics on flickr (on the right.)

Stay well guys...and TTFN.