We admitted him to KKH on a Wednesday night with a temp of 40.3 Degree Celsius. Children with high fevers were given the priority to see the doctor first. After understanding the history from us, the doc proceeded to check for signs of infection. She pressed Jonas's tummy, look at his ears, look at his throat and checked his lymph nodes. She said everything looks ok except for slightly swollen lymph nodes at the base on the back of his head. I was told to sponge him with water while waiting for admission and he screamed with discomfort while I was doing so in the middle of the A&E. He was also given paracetamol right away. We were being admitted quickly to a 4 bedder this time round. However, Jonas was feeling really sick and keep crying and crying. And so many doctors came to look at him and they all check for the same things I wonder why they have to do it so many times. So when the 2nd and 3rd doctors apart from the A&E doctor wanted to check his throat again, we did not agree for them to do so. Jonas has just drank his milk and we worry he'll vomit it out. The doctor suggested getting a urine sample to test for urinary tract infections first. A bag was being stuck around his groin to collect urine and the nurse told us to check frequently and inform her once he peed as the bag could leak. When the doctors finally left, we had to carry him and pat him to sleep before putting him back on the bed. The nurse was kind enough to have given him a cooling mattress which is really a water filled mattress to be put on his bed to help bring down his temperature. The beds in that ward were all taken but are older kids. We were rather apologetic with Jonas's crying therefore we wanted to shift him to a 1 bedded ward as soon as possible. Thus we were put on the waiting list but it wasn't until the next day afternoon before we were being shifted. Jonas had a disturbed sleep that night, having to take his temperature hourly and had to be woken for medicine if his temperature goes higher than 38.5 Degree Celsius. And his urine bag did leak as told. Hubby was checking on him in the wee hours of the morning but noticed half of his clothing and part of the bed soaked. So we had to wake him to get him changed in case he catches a cold and informed housekeeping to change the bedsheets before putting him back to sleep again. We had a hard time sleeping too worrying about his condition and I kept waking up having to sleep sitting upright on a plastic chair. I woke up with a very sore butt at 7am plus and switched with my husband (he was bunking on the roll away bed which was equally uncomfortable) but not for long as the doctors came in around 9am.
We were told the results of his urine sample was normal so he didn't have any urinary tract infection. They will continue what they are doing now to control and monitor his fever and at the same time try to find out the site of infection. We were reassured the fever which is going up and down now will not cause harm to his brain and well being. My mother in law came over to help us quite early and we went back to bathe and get changed. When we are back in the afternoon, the nurses are preparing to switch Jonas to a single bedded room. However, it was not in the same ward but one level lower. Although we had to go through the hassle, we are glad to have a room to ourselves again. It is definitely more comfortable to rest without disturbances and convenient to have a private use toilet. Jonas can come down to walk around on the floor too if he is well enough. It is already day 4 he did not have any bowel movements. So after consultation with the doctor, the nurse administered glycerol suppository upon Jonas to help him pass motion. Luckily it worked on him pretty well and he managed to clear out his bowels twice. The day passed by and we could see that he is becoming more alert though the fever still come and go. But his temperature shoot up again at night and the nurse had to give him the stronger medicine to help bring down his temperature.
The next day, the medical team swab some tissue from his mouth and arranged for him to do blood testing. The result from both tests turn out to be fine which means they still could not find the source of infection. The doctor came to see us in the afternoon. He said Jonas is most likely experiencing a viral fever whereby source is unknown but the condition is self limiting. That means it will heal with time as his immune system will be able to fight the virus. What needs to be done is just monitor and control his fever. He said as long as the peak of his fever is going downwards over the days, Jonas is on his route to recovery. He also said that Jonas will start to develop rashes all over his body for the next few days and it'll take time to heal. But that was also a sign of recovery. The doctor was spot on. Jonas had an outbreak of rashes on his face, neck and body. His arms and legs were spared at first but it didn't take long for the rashes to spread over those areas.
Although we never found out the cause and the site of his infection, we were glad he was recovering well after the discharge. We didn't even need to use the medicine which the hospital had given us to treat his rashes as there was no itch and rashes disappeared after a couple of days.
1) Never take any fever lightly especially constant high fevers of 38.5 degree Celsius or higher. High fevers can cause permanent brain damage in young children if left untreated.
2) Parents have to be very vigilant when bringing their kids to crowded places or any gatherings as bacteria and viruses can spread easily amongst young children due to their weaker immune systems.
Talking about that, I think I'll start to research more about supplements and healthier food options for toddlers. Time to start building up little Jonas's immune system as he gets exposed to more food and different environments as I'm thinking of placing him in child care soon. I'll share the information here in my blog if I discovered anything useful. In the meantime, it is another chapter closed for our joyful little family.
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