My 1 y/o is in the hospital with meningitis

[heyitskatie]

@misslindabeaz I was JUST looking up the symptoms to this as my youngest is sick right now. ( not what it is after reading up on it). How weird for this to pop up on my feed at the same time. I hope he recovers quickly

 

[hisholykingdom]

@misslindabeaz My baby girl is 14MO and sick for the first time and I'm terrified its RSV. Shes been coughing so so much and she can't sleep. It makes me cry for her because she is still her bubbly cheery self but I can't tell she feels like crap. We are going to the doctors tomorrow but I'm so worried for her. Im praying to the universe that its just a cough from the change in seasons and the drafty old house

 

[misslindabeaz]

@hisholykingdom I hope your daughter is doing better! Coughs are also very scary. They are vigilant when it comes to RSV as there have been quite some outbreaks (at least where i live, in the Netherlands, but i heard of outbreaks in other countries as well) the test for it is done quickly. Its the first test they did on my son when we arrived in the hospital. Covid, influenza B and RSV. The results were in in 30 minutes .

 

[hisholykingdom]

@misslindabeaz No COVID, general virus. Possibly with a mix of mommas shit allergy genetics since spring is here. Her cough is still nasty but she ate mashed potatoes and veggie straws today so that made me happy as she's only had boobmilk the last week really. Doctor says her lungs are clear and that was my main concern.

 

[johnthechristian]

@misslindabeaz I, too, am a paranoid mom. Other people might not understand it but you most likely saved your son’s life with your knowledge and intuition. Wishing for a fast and safe recovery for your little guy!

 

[kozluv]

@misslindabeaz Just to give an expiencense of another anxious mum who's son had viral meningitis at 2m old and again at 4m old.

I was always hyper vigilant about fevers and rash and on the day I took him to my local ED I almost let my nan convince me it wasn't that serious. He had fever, was larathagic and had reduced feeds but no rash at that time. My anxiety was screaming at me something was seriously wrong so we took him to Ed fully expecting me to be over reacting and he just had a minor visua or cold...in the 10min it took us to drive to ED the full body rash broke out on him, I went from the car to the ED reception into a room with peads and nurses in the space of 10m minutes because they were worried it was bacterial. IV line having to go from his forehead because his wrists were not accessible due to how dehydrated he was. They started him an antibiotics via the IV while running the test to see if was bacterial and setting us up to be transferred to the children hospital.

We spent a week in the childrens hospital before being discharged. He had 3 lumpar punctures, he'd scans, EKG or ECG one of the two. And iv antibiotics for the majority of his stay. It was caused by Entro visual, a very common virus that causes the cold/hand foot and mouth but it managed to travel into his spinal fluid.

But after a week we were home, no long lasting effects it seemed.

It happened again at 4ms old basically the same, but this time drs slightly more concerned as it's so rare to get it twice, let alone from the same virus again. He did expirence seizures this time but after 8 days was discharged on anti seizure meds till he was 1 year old.

He's now 5 years old, no long lasting side effects, not on meds and meet all his development goals. They still don't know why he got it twice as we had his immune system tested and that was fine.

Take each day as it comes mum and try n get some sleep and take care of yourself, he doesn't remember any of it but I do and I still remember his screams of the lumbar punctures or the IV placement but then I look at home now and he's my foot forward son who seems to not be afraid of anything these days.

 

[misslindabeaz]

@kozluv How terrifying to have to go through all this twice! Ik glad to hear he is a healthy kid now. Gives me hope for the future! I did take a shower yesterday for the first time since we arrived, that felt nice. I try to get these small breaks for myself to just be me without LO attached to me but also cant stray too far away from him.

 

[lotwt]

@misslindabeaz Prayers.
My youngest daughter got bacterial meningitis in the hospital from a weird strain of strep (not group B). She spent 22 days at Vanderbilt. She was 3 days old (the day after release from delivery) when I noticed her acting off.

 

[christ4paul]

@misslindabeaz I hope your little boy recovers quickly. Good work mama.

 

[vesperluna]

@misslindabeaz Fear is a demon, but your's has a reason. Hope your little one is better. Mine got spots from a viral infection, had to be upgraded from amoxicillin to a z pack and steroids. She's fine now but the spots were terrifying and my pediatrician thinks I'm overly paranoid normally, even she was nervous when she saw the spots.

 

[mimi14]

@misslindabeaz Hey OP. Would you mind telling us where were the spots? How big were they? Were they raised or not? My little one gets random high temps and I just want to know what to look for.

 

[misslindabeaz]

@mimi14 I put up some additional info on the spots and progression underneath my original post. If you have any questions feel free to message me. And take pictures if you are ever in doubt. Most doctor offices dont mind checking some pics via email when it comes to possible meningitis.

 

[rae29]

@misslindabeaz I thought the first sign was not being able to turn their head! I'll look up what you mean by the red dots, in terrified of meningitis.

Thanks for the info and although I'm sorry your child is going through this, I'm glad you knew what to look for and they're now getting better. Good job!

 

[lilmama10102013]

@misslindabeaz 95% of the time my kids have been sick, it's been ear infections, pink eye, RSV, rhino virus (but need inhaler), and strep. They always start with a fever or cough. My 8 year old was coughing. I thought it would have gone away. He was coughing for a week. Never complained about anything hurting. It was a slight ear infection.

Hang in there mama. I never thought I would be the parent who has to taken their kid in because of a fever. I have to though, because it's more than likely something I listed above.

 

[strongerthanthefist]

@misslindabeaz Please try and find some time to see a grief counsellor. My daughter had infant botulism at 5 weeks old and almost died and it’s really helped to be able to talk through my feelings. Disenfranchised grief is very real when you’ve almost lost your kids, and everyone will tell you to just be thankful and minimize how frightening it is.