PICU

Monday night Brandon started to complain about a pain in his foot. Tuesday he couldn't walk on it. Chrissy took him to the pediatrician and he told Brandon, "come on Brandon, you can walk on it, right?" Brandon told him no. The doctor told Chrissy she could go get an x-ray if she would like to but that it was likely just a bone bruise from Brandon doing something. Chrissy took Brandon to get an x-ray a few hours later and they said nothing showed on the x-ray and they recommended he see an orthopedic doctor. Wednesday came and Brandon went to his appointment where they diagnosed him with Sever's Disease. Sever's is a disease where your heel bone grows faster than your ligaments and it is painful. (That is how it was described to us.) Brandon was in a lot of pain and was only prescribed Motrin. He wasn't watching tv or playing video games. He was just laying around. Thursday he was in a lot of pain and by Thursday night he had a slight fever. By this time we were all skeptical of the diagnosis but Brandon's spirits seemed a little better.
Friday came and Janel went over to stay with him so he wouldn't be alone during the day (since he hadn't been going to school due to the extreme pain). When Janel arrived she found Brandon to have a temperature of 103.7! Janel called Chrissy who immediately got in her car to come home from work. On the way she called the orthopedic doctor who told her this wasn't related to the foot and she should call the pediatrician. She then called the pediatrician and was told that a virus is going around that starts with a fever and that he probably just had that. The woman at the office was extremely rude and really did all she could to basically tell Chrissy she was being ridiculous. Chrissy then called back and asked if it could be a bone infection. The woman asked her "where did she hear that" Chrissy told her she was talking to someone and the woman advised her "that is why you shouldn't talk to other people"!!!!
Enough was enough and no matter what any doctor said, Chrissy and Tom know their kid and they put him in the car and took him to Children's Hospital. As soon as the ER doctor saw him, he knew the situation was serious. Brandon has been in ICU since 5pm Friday. He has a very serious bone infection that has spread up his leg to his knee. He is in so much pain. His fever has been fluctuating but is still at 102. He has two iv's in one arm and a line into his leg. His blood pressure is dangerously low and he has a clot in his leg. Pneumonia has formed and the bacteria is getting into his lungs. All this and his general pediatrician told Chrissy to wait until his appointment on Wednesday! My anger at this doctor I can imagine will only be magnified once Brandon is feeling better. I am too consumed with his welfare right now to worry about anything else. It is so hard to see him like this. He is so sweet and this just really bites. I have taken pictures to document this experience for him in the future, but for his privacy, I will not be posting them. To all you parents- just remember- you know your kid. You know when they are "putting on" and when they aren't. Don't let some fool of a doctor tell you nothing is wrong when you know it is. I am so grateful that Chrissy and Tom got Brandon to the ER when they did. Over the last 24 hours he has gotten worse and we were at least able to get a jump start.
I am just so happy that Mark's cousin (who is a pediatrician) put the bone infection "bug" in my ear on Tuesday when I was speaking to her about Brandon's situation. She told me-if he gets a fever, that we should really get it checked out.
Get Better Brandon!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!