Sick Baby

Since Masons surgery is during the time we were planning on going home to Idaho to visit, we decided to go early before the surgery. We wanted to get there in time for Memorial day weekend. As soon as we made the decision to go, things seemed to just spiral into craziness!

This past Friday we noticed Mason had a little fever, about 99°. I figured he was probably just really constipated so I gave him a laxitive. The next morning I noticed some bumps starting to form on Masons tummy. He'd had some bumps similar on his back recently but the Dr said it was just irritation. So I figured it must be that. By the afternoon Mason had broken out in a red rash all over his torso, bum and groin area. We had been in and out of the car that day, I thought perhaps he got too hot in the backseat and got some heat rash or something. It was a really hot humid day.

Masons Rash

That night Mason had a fever again. I gave him Tylenol. We kept him home from church the next day and just let him be in his diaper all day, hoping the heat rash would go away. Again, a fever that night.  I knew something definitely wasn't right. We decided I would take Mason in to the doctor the next day.

The next morning (Monday) I changed his diaper and I could smell that he possibly had a UTI going on too. He has never had one before, that I know of. After dropping Malone off at work Mason and I headed straight to the doctors.

Sure enough, this was no heat rash. Turned out Mason had strep throat, in this case Scarlet Fever. He also tested positive for UTI. The doctor prescribed him a strong antibiotic and said they would call me when they get the results of the culture from his urine. The preliminary results of the culture indicated there was an E. Coli bacteria growth in his urine.

I had to cancel his appointment to see his urologist and physical therapist for Tuesday. I wish he could have seen his urologist because of the UTI stuff going on but Mason was contagious with the strep and it would have been wrong to take him out like that.  We won't be able to get in to see the urologist for another month. I just hope there isn't more going on with Masons urinary system, like his bladder not functioning right or kidney infection or something.

We leave for Idaho tomorrow and all the stress and anxiety of dealing with a sick baby, plans for surgery, dealing with doctors, and planning a trip to Idaho ( with a sick baby) has been exhausting. Hopefully all will go well and we can enjoy some vacation time with family and friends. I seriously can't wait to go home.

MRI Results

Mason recently had a follow up MRI. It was an extremely long day. We were at the hospital for about 5 hours total. Mason's MRI took about 2 hours and he was sedated for it. I hate having to sedate him but it's better than the alternative; a screaming 18 month old strapped to a table for 2 hours. We finally got him back and were headed home. All seemed well until he started throwing up all over himself. The next day he ate some breakfast, had a nap, and after lunch he threw up again. Sunday, threw up again (luckily we had him home from church). And come Monday he finally kept his food down all day. Come Tuesday he was able to keep his food down again, but has been pooping like crazy  instead, like all day. Malone took time out of work to go with us to Mason's appointment to see the neurosurgeon to find out the results of his MRI. We waited in the 90 degree waiting room for an excruciating two hours. Meanwhile Mason was going through diapers like crazy because of his wild BMs. We ran out of diapers AND wipes within the two hours of being there. I ended up having to ask the nurses for diapers and Malone had to go to the pharmacy for wipes!

There is good news and bad news with Masons MRI results. The good news is  his brain is looking really great, thanks to his shunt that was put in last year. The bad news is unfortunately Mason has fluid building up in his spinal cord. Fluid building up will cause big problems in the future. There are two possible reasons this could be happening, we don't know which it is or if it's a combination of both. One, the MRI revealed he has a tethered spinal cord which could be causing it. Or two, his slight chiari malformation in his brain is creating the problem. In order to get the fluid back under control we have to do surgery. We will be doing surgery on the tethered cord first to see if that will solve the problem. If the doctor feels it isn't enough, he will also do a malformation decompression. Mason will be in the hospital for three days to recover. And he will have a follow up with his doctor within 2-3 weeks.Surgery is scheduled for June 30th.

While Malone and I know in this case surgery is needed, it is still very difficult having to put Mason through another surgery. Especially when he is doing so well otherwise. He is walking and showing no signs of problems whatsoever, to the surprise of his neurosurgeon. We have  fears of what repercussions could result from this surgery. The only thing that we can hope and pray for is that this surgery will be all he needs to fix the problem and that he will be able to recover, resume life normally, and continue to make progress. Please, keep our family and especially Mason in your prayers.