Just got back from ER and Ct showed all fine but still same issues!?

[chelle722]

Our son is now 14 months old. At 4 months he had to have a shunt revision. He wouldn't eat and was very fussy/sleepy. He has done GREAT in the last 10 months. ALL of the sudden yesterday he started crying Loudly and was unconsolable. We attributed it to teething since he has been eating and has been "normally" behaving. Well today was HORRIBLE! Finally I thought I felt his soft spot bulging so we rushed him to the ER. They did an xray and a CT scan. The neurologist read it and showed it to us, comparing the last one with the malfunction. Everything looked fine and his soft spot is not bulging at all!!?? Four hours later we went home to sleep and come back to see OUR neurosurgeon/Pediatrician in the morning. We got in the door sat him in the living room and he threw up. Now he is sleeping. There was a lot of mucus in the vomit so I am wondering if all of this could be teething or what?!! Has anyone else had trouble distinguishing teething and shunt issues??!! I feel like a crazy Mom! HELP!!

[leigh828]

My son, 12 months old, had his first ear infection last week and I was so sure that it was a shunt malfunction. He was rubbing the right side of his head/ear (where his shunt is), wouldn't eat, only wanted to be held, crying much more than usual. I was so happy when we found out it was an ear infection! I think that until they are a little older and can say "mommy my head hurts" or something, we are going to woder about any illness that they have. You did the right thing!!! It's better to take him in then sit at home and wonder. I hope that he is feeling better soon!! :)

[leigh828]

PS I feel like a crazy mom too! :)

[chelle722]

Thanks so much for posting! So far we have been up about 30 min. and all is good (knock on wood) Just waiting for his pediatrician to call. You really made me feel better!

Us crazy moms need to stick together! :-)

[XoBLoNDiE85]

im another crazy mom. hannah had her revision at 4 1/2 months old, 20 months now and i think a revision is coming everytime she gets sick or does anything outta the norm. i get so nervous about it all. hope you little one feels better soon!

[Makennasmom]

We had to take Makenna to the ER a couple of times now. She also threw up lots of mucus. The first time we took her they said that she had a UTI. I didn't see that one comming. The last time we took her was last month she was throwing up mucus again and fussy and had a very high temp. I was so afraid that was shunt related, but the dr said it wasn't. They kept her in the hospital for 3 days, but never found out what was wrong. So I know all about getting worried and feeling crazy. I just don't want to take any chances at all!!

[cadon's mum]

I'm a crazy mum too!!! Cadon has been sick all day and is just not himself. His fontanelle feels soft but i'm not taking any chances i'm off to the hospital now too!!

[chelle722]

After another trip to the DR. someone FINALLY looked in KJ's throat and determined he has a sore throat and a virus. We are now working at keeping him hydrated since he refuses to drink anything. I just successfully "twilight" fed him another 3 ounces of pedialyte. Read that online. We have been through a lot with him but oddly enough never a "regular" virus/cold. This is actually new to us all!! lol

Hope he keeps drinking and feeling better. Dr again tomorrow 9 am! Joy!

[Ziggy]

Awww, poor little guy! Glad it's just a virus though!

[leigh828]

AW, poor little guy. I feel so bad that he has a sore throat, but I am also so happy to hear that it's not his shunt! :) hang in there, I hope that he is feeling better SOON!! :)

[Lifeisgood]

I hope ALL our little kiddos here feel better soon!!!

[XoBLoNDiE85]

Poor little man! Hope his throat feels better soon but so glad to hear that its NOT his shunt!!

[LillyPie]

Feeling like a crazy mom seems to be the normal feeling for us all!! I can tell you that you dont feel as crazy when your baby gets a little older because you start to learn about your babys habits and what type of things they tend to do when they're sick or when its something more serious. I'm not kidding I was in the ER all the time with Lilly in her 1st year of life because I was so afraid something was wrong with her shunt. Everytime she would vomit and had a fever I would panic. I say that first year was by far the HARDEST! Ya know... the only thing to fear is fear itself because our own fears cause us to be CRAZY!!! LOL.... Everything will be just fine.

[swolf]

My son had the same thing and it ended up being his shunt. They called it intermitent shunt malfuntion. Continue to watch him closely for vomiting and headache, stiffness in the neck. Make sure you let your doctor know that he started vomiting when you got home.

[chelle722]

We just finally got out of the hospital. That "SORE THROAT" was actually determined to be a UTI!!! That was what I thought and they disagreed, waiting for KJ to be MISERABLE and practically dehydrated before the FINALLY took a urine specimen and found elevated white blood cells. Day 2 of the strong antibiotics and we can finally see our little man coming back!

Hope this will be a quick painless recovery from here on out!:clap2:

[Dodger67]

Wow they check the urine last instead of first - what a bunch of dummies!
Sometimes we have to get agressive and pushy to get medical people to do what we know they should. Many of them find it really hard to understand and accept that the patient's mother is more expert than they are.
When I was a kid my parents got a supply of "urosticks"(sp?) colour-change test strips from our GP. If I became feverish they would check my pee before even going to the doctor.

[Krit]

Hey Chelle,

hope your little guy is doing better now that he has the right diagnosis!!! What an awesome mom you are - hope that I will be half as good and make sure I stick up for my kid and (not always) trust the professionals!

You know your little boy better than anyone, so I think all the parents on here are bang on about that.

Hugs,

Krit xx

PS - Roger : fab idea! Now I know that most of us on here aren't medical professionals, and those dipstick thingies can give inaccurate readings, so... can I just suggest that you tell your GP or regular nurse that you weren't happy with the level of care you got and that you will be testing him yourself for protien levels, etc etc? Generally the nurses are really good and will be quite willing to sit you down and go over how to test and what the readings mean with you when they know you are serious... and especially if they all know it means you will be halping them out in effect! :clap2: