Aimy's Stay in the Hospital

I have not been looking forward to writing this entry, but it's an important one. The day before Carnaval, Aimy complained on the way home that her tummy hurt. Carlos and I both thought that it was just hunger and since she didn't complain again that day after eating, we figured she was fine. She had been sniffling and coughing a bit for the past few days, but so was everyone else in her class, and we weren't too worried. However, on the day of Carnaval, she told us again that her tummy hurt, but she didn't nap that afternoon because of the festival, and didn't have a good snack either. That evening she continued to complain about her tummy, so Carlos took her to the doctor, who thought it could be an UTI, but also gave us a prescription for an abdominal ultrasound in case it was really something in her stomach. Poor Aimy woke up every hour that night, complaining that her "poopies are stuck" and trying to go to the bathroom but not having anything come out. She slept very poorly, and the next day she had intermittant episodes of pain where it hurt so much that all she could do was cry and writhe around... and she had a 40 degree fever. Carlos took her to the hospital that morning, and I stayed home to look after Alixe, and it was a very difficult day for everyone.

Carlos updated me as often as he could. He and Aimy spent most of the day in the Emergency, until they finally admitted her at 10pm to the pediatric ward. Her first blood test was inconclusive - although it showed signs of infection, there was no evidence of a bacterial infection, which was a good sign. But her fever was still high, she still had bad episodes of pain, and she wouldn't eat, sleep, or poop. They gave her IV fluids that night and an enema to clear her out... and the poor thing was awake every 20 minutes that night until 5am, when she finally fell asleep. I spent part of the evening worrying over tea with a sympathetic neighbour, who promised me she would take me to the hospital the next morning so I could switch places with Carlos, and who also offered to look after Alixe on the Monday in case Aimy needed to stay another day in the hospital and allow Carlos to go to work. I didn't sleep much that night either.

The next morning I arrived at the hospital at 9 and took over for Carlos. Since she had managed to sleep for a few hours and her fever was down slightly, they removed the IV that morning and let me give Aimy a shower before her abdominal ultrasound. The images showed enlarged nodes in her intestines but thankfully no appendicitis or blockages. Aimy was a bit scared, and was a little intimidated by the pediatrician when he came later, but was much more smiley and calm than on Friday evening and Saturday morning. She wouldn't touch her lunch except to drink, and was not very happy to have to give another blood sample and stool sample. However, she did have a nap and a snack afterwards, and she was quite happy to read books and colour and play with her toys. She was even given a doll, Rajani, and two outfits for her that were donated by an association for sick kids.

Sunday morning. Tired, but happy
to see Mummy

Playing with some of the toys while waiting
for the test results

Dressing Rajani, the doll she was given

Reading her alphabet book to
Rajani and Doc McStuffins

That afternoon, the pediatrician came back to tell us that the test results had come back to confirm that Aimy was suffering from complications of the Adenovirus, which usually just causes respiratory symptoms but unfortunately was wreaking havoc on Aimy's immune system. And because she had started to have diarrhea the pediatrician was worried about complications such as dehydration, so Aimy would have to stay overnight for observation. Despite medication her fever was high enough that it prevented her from falling asleep until after 10pm, and she wouldn't sleep unless she was holding onto my hand (I slept next to her in a bed that folded out from an armchair. Not the most comfortable, but I was so tired that I didn't really care. Aimy woke up at 8:30 the next morning when the nurse came in to take her temperature, and she had a fairly good breakfast considering she had barely eaten for the past two days. Her diarrhea had stopped, her temperature was still a big high but much lower than previously, and she was much more like her normal self. After examining her, the pediatrician told us that she could go home, though she would likely be tired and weak for at least another week, and suggested she stay home from school until the following Monday.

Thankfully Aimy did get better over that week, though it was hard for her to understand how important it was to rest. She was still quite tired, and didn't have much energy, but by the next Saturday she was quite ready to go back to school!

The whole thing was scary, of course, but the staff at the hospital was excellent, and the nurses were charmed by Aimy right away. She was a sweetheart for most of the stay, and though she didn't always understand what was going on, she did try to talk to all of the nurses and doctors, and was proud to show them her doll and was quite good for the exams. I'm so glad it's all over, and I definitely hope that it won't happen again!!