Last month Leah got strep. No surprise. She gets it all the time. She had JUST had it a few weeks prior. We saw the pediatrician on a Tuesday and started a prescription that same day. By Thursday, she was complaining that her leg hurt. That Friday night we had a Girl Scout event at school. Prior to leaving she was complaining, and I had given her some Motrin, thinking it was growing pains. By the end of the Girl Scout event she was telling me that it still really hurt.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night she was awake in the middle of the night, crying that her leg really hurt. Saturday she was limping, but was able to shake it off to go on a play date. Sunday I was out with Juliet and Chris texted me that he wanted to take her to Urgent Care. I thought he was probably just erroring on the side of caution. I figured it was growing pains, maybe she pulled it a little in gymnastics or dance AND was having growing pains, and maybe she was just hyper focusing on it since she had been able to shake it off the day before. Chris and her spent a long afternoon at Urgent Care getting x-rays and blood work. There wasn't anything they could pinpoint. It definitely seemed like her overall pain had increased, but she also still had moments of "normal"ness.
Monday I wanted her to go to school. She was clearly in pain, but I thought there was a *small* chance she could shake it off like she had on Saturday. She was falling down as she got ready, unable to hold her weight with her right let. I let her stay home, and called the pediatrician as soon as I got to school. We went in around lunch, and the pediatrician guessed it was probably related to the strep. To be SUPER cautious, she said, she wanted us to get an ultrasound at St. Joes.
We went a few hours later and it started off kind of silly. I was teasing Leah that there was a baby in her hip. Then, it got really awkward. The tech became silent, measuring things, and no longer engaging with Leah. Then she started asking weird questions like, "How did your doctor tell you to get the results?", "Did your doctor tell you WHY you were here?", "When did she eat last?", "any other strange symptoms?". The tech told us to call our doctor immediately. Then she said she was just bringing in a doctor to talk to us. We were in the oncology unit and I thought I was going to throw up. I had no idea what they were seeing and knew it was obviously serious. A doctor came over and said there were concerns about the amount of fluid in her hip, and whether the fluid had an infection in it. Then she said, "If she were mine, I'd get in the car right now and drive to the Pediatric ER at Mott's, we can't help you like they can." I about passed out. I asked if she had cancer, she said no, and I just kind of wandered away from her to gather Leah up as quickly and calmly as possible to get the next hospital. The tech helped us out the door and said, "Go right there. Don't stop."
Trying to stay "normal" for Leah was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was frantically texting Chris. We got to Mott's and got into a room. They were reviewing everything and Leah got to watch a movie (they had a cool set up for this). Chris came and we were just waiting, wondering what the hell was going on, but not able to talk about it because Leah was right in between us. Then a "Child Life Specialist" came into the room and we both about died. What a job title. She wanted to make Leah more comfortable and also wanted to help answer or questions by being a go-between with us and the doctors. At this point, I was sure something was seriously wrong. Chris and I both thought she was there because Leah was seriously/terminally ill.
Leah got another ultrasound, and at this point her pain was skyrocketing. I think I've mostly blocked the next three hours out of my head, but during that time she was in crippling pain. They got to the point where they were giving her morphine through an IV and she was still hysterical. Every doctor there is about 17 years old, and I think I more than offended one when I asked for the "real" doctor. The doctor we saw the most seemed reluctant to say much. I took him in the hall and asked for the low-down. He talked more about the infection, and said surgery a strong possibility for her.
Renee ended up bringing Teddy up around 10:30 to nurse. When I left, Leah was in debilitating pain. I sat in Renee's truck for about 20 minutes, and during this time, she was moved into the "real" hospital. Chris texted me that Leah was better, and I wasn't sure what to expect.
By midnight, Leah was limping, but WALKING. She was in good spirits. She spent the night, and during the night, they pushed high does of anti-inflammatories through her IV. It worked! The next day she was observed a bit, had a Physical Therapist watch her walk, and we were discharged. No surgery needed. She stayed home for a week until she could walk normally again, without a limp. And that's they story of why I will live 10 years less than I otherwise would have.
So thankful for happy endings and HEALTHY kids (even when they aren't so healthy--we had our glimpse of how much worse it could be in the hospital).
Leah now says she won't actively cheer against U of M because they were so nice to her and helped her when she was sick.
