Advice From a Cleaning Lady

Room 834


We could also call this post Back From the Dead (I'm only half joking). I'll get to the cleaning lady later.

We just returned home from the hospital yesterday. Micah spent 10 days there.

Two Tuesdays ago he had had watery diarrhea and vomiting for 2 days. He was doing so badly, he'd lost so much weight and was so miserable and his skin so awful that we decided to take him to the emergency room here in Boulder.

The ER doc said, "No biggie" and sent us on to our GP who said, "I have no idea what to do for him," and sent us on to another doc who said, "I can't help but try this doc." Finally we ended up on the phone with a pediatrician. The ped said, "Let's see him in the morning," and I said "I don't think we should wait." Happily, the pediatrician agreed that I should go with my gut and take him ASAP. We would have taken him no matter what the ped said but it's nice to have a little affirmation.

Around 7:45 PM that night Shane and I were in the ER of Denver Children's Hospital. After almost 5 hours of waiting and talking intermittently with a doc and starting a glucose IV, Micah was admitted. He and I spent the wee hours of the morning talking to the docs on the 8th floor and then finally around sunrise fell asleep.

Each day was filled with doctor's visits, blood tests, IV's and nurses checking vitals (blood pressure, temp, pulse). Micah even had a small surgery. Because he was so dehydrated they couldn't keep an IV in so they put him under anesthesia and inserted a catheter, that ran from his arm to his heart. The PIC line (catheter) was a huge blessing because it allowed them to easily draw blood (twice a day) and give him IV fluids and supplements (like albumin). He also had an NG tube (feeding tube) for 5 days. ANother huge blessing that allowed him to be fed and given supplements easily.

In a nutshell here is what went wrong: Micah is extremely allergic to milk which we suspected since his eczema began soon after we started supplementing with formula. When kids are so allergic their colons get irritated (acute colitis) and stop absorbing protein. Lack of protein was the cause of Micah's weight loss, his extreme lethargy and irritability. His electrolyte levels were all low (scary because that can quickly cause problems) as well his zinc levels and Vitamin D. Bad news all around there.

We spent 10 days in the hospital getting his electrolytes back to normal. He stopped the donor milk (and my milk) he was drinking and started on a hypoallergenic formula; doing that allowed his skin to heal quite a bit. He looks so much better but there's still a ways to go. I don't particularly like the formula (causes lots of problems: constipation, diaper rash, a new rash on top of eczema) but it's helping him until we can switch him onto solids. He gained two pounds while we were there and returned to the happy, sweet Micah we haven't seen in a very long time.

The weeks leading up to his admission were pure agony. I cried every day, many times a day. I prayed constantly for wisdom to know how to help him. I was awful and mean and on edge (just ask Sage and Shane). But as soon as we stepped into the hospital the tears stopped and I felt a calm and peace that I haven't felt in many months.

This was a very hard time but as always there were glorious moments.

• Holding Micah in my arms and watching the sun spread across the sky early one morning.
  

• Watching him improve before my eyes and start playing and laughing again. It is pure joy hearing him giggle and chatter.
  

• Realizing amidst all the sadness of a Children's Hospital that eczema really isn't so bad. There are so many other parents and children who suffer through far more terrible things. I met a mom whose 20-month-old son is on his third round of chemo. Another dad has an 18-month-old who has had a 6 month stay due to heart problems. And there were many others.

One night one of the staff housekeeping came to empty our trash. She asked a few questions about Micah's condition, admonished me to pray and shared some wisdom:

"Prayer and medicine work together."

Truer words were never spoken.