One week later!!

So, it has been almost one week since baby Zachary was admitted to the hospital.  I must say that he is doing much, much better.  He is still on oral antibiotics even though there was no clear diagnosis given. He has to continue the antibiotics for one week which stops tomorrow evening.  He has not vomited anymore since last Wednesday night.  I don't care if I never go through that again with any of our children.  I was very concerned (Jeffrey thinks I was freaked out...okay so maybe a little) for Zachary but I had to keep my wits about me because our baby needed his parents.  Jeffrey was a huge blessing to me, running back and forth between hospitals, getting our Pastor and his wife to stay with the other children, going home and bringing food back for me the next day.  Thank you, God, that my husband never showed fear which helped me to be strong for our son.  It was hard to watch Zachary get stuck a total of 8 times in a matter of 6 hrs.  When we were at the private hospital, the ER physician tried to place a hep-lock in his right hand which didn't work and then she proceeded to his right foot where she was successful. She drew blood so she could have his electrolytes checked along with a CBC. His white blood cells came back elevated showing an infection.  Because the hospital isn't equipped to run more extensive tests, we were sent to the public hospital and up to the 8th floor to the pediatric ward.  We met with the pediatrician "on call" and she allowed me to join her and her assistant Dr. Edwards in the exam room.  Zachary had no idea what was about to happen.  He was all smiles with them until the pain started.  Zachary was a little trooper when they tried to collect a urine culture, which is an invasive procedure.  After two catheter attempts, he finally started to pee on the Dr! I laughed, internally, all the while trying to calm my son.   They were scrambling to get the sterile urine cup that was still in the package. I think they collected just a few drops which the dr said should be enough to run the test.  Next came the blood culture that they would collect from the femoral area. They stuck him twice on the left side and then finally succeeded on the right side with one stick there.  Last but not least came the ever dreaded spinal tap.  Being that I have had 2 epidurals, I knew what had to be done but I had never witnessed it being done on an infant, let alone my son.  I was praying that God would get us "through" this with 1 stick.  God did!!  It lasted roughly 45 seconds but it seemed like it wouldn't end fast enough.   Seeing my baby forcefully being "balled" up in fetal position was hard for me to watch.  When the Dr said that the fluid was clear and not cloudy, she felt confident that it was not meningitis but that we would have to wait for the other two cultures to come back from the lab.  So, we left the public hospital and took our pastor and his wife back to their home.  At this time it's about 1:30 am Thursday morning.  We got back to MoBay Hope hospital at 2:10am where the nurse quickly starts Zachary on an antibiotic IV drip through the heplock that is still in his foot.  Jeffrey stayed for just a little bit and then headed home.  I felt like a spoiled American because I had a room to myself along with a bathroom and a huge TV (with cable) in it.  Let's not forget that I had air-conditioning too!!!  (not a luxury at the public hospital!)  They even moved a crib in there with me but I didn't have the heart to put him in there because of all the trauma
he had been through.  I wanted him next to me!!!!!  Many of the nurses came to our room to see the cute, fat, white baby that was all smiles in the midst of it all!  Finally after all day of being in the hospital, Dr. Gilbert, the pediatrician on call the night before, stops by the room to see the "happiest, sick baby ever" and informs me that the urine test doesn't reveal anything and that maybe the blood culture will.  Since Zachary was doing well, she decided to let us go home with oral antibiotics!!! Praise the Lord!! So, at 8:15pm Thursday night, we left there.  I was so happy to see the family and I know they were just as delighted to see us!!! As of yesterday, Monday, Dr. Gilbert called and said that the preliminary results on the blood cultures all look to be fine and that she is going to give 1 week to get final test results and I should hear something back from her.

Thank you for all your prayers, words of encouragements and phone calls!  They truly have meant a lot to us.  It is hard to go through these things sometimes feeling like you are all alone but when you are on an island, far away from family during the middle of the night, in a strange place, and in a different culture, it can all be overwhelming....so that being said, Thank you God that You never
leave us nor forsake us and that Your mercies are new every morning!! Lord, we love You and trust
You for Zachary's complete healing!!!!! -Jodi

Zachary's Hospital visit

Just wanted to give you a little glimpse of what is going on in the last 24 hours. Around 6:00 last night after dinner our little Zachary started throwing up. Over the next 45 minutes he threw up around 6-8 times. So just as we were discussing me leaving to goto the store for some items needed, Jodi decided that we needed to take Zachary to the hospital. We prayed for Zachary and then we did what any family of 8 would do, loaded all the kids up in the van with electronics and coloring books and headed to the MoBay Hope Private Hospital. I'm thinking this should be quick, we'll get him checked out they'll tell us it is a stomach bug and we would be heading home. I was doing what any good father and husband would do, I wanted to make sure my son was OK and make my wife happy(she was kinda freaked out, or as she would describe it as a very concerned mother). We arrived at the hospital set the kids up in the van, locked the door and walked inside. They took Zach and mommy back while i filled out the slip of paper and the lady at the desk informed me of the cost of the visit and that I would pay after the Dr. assessed the baby.
We met with Dr. Brown and she assessed Zachary and decided to do some blood work, give him some Pedialyte and call in the pediatrician on call. The pediatrician on call could not make it to the hospital but was willing to consult so Dr. Brown proceed to take the blood against her desires to stick the baby, since she was not a trained pediatrician. It went well she tried twice and got some blood from his foot. During this time the Dr gave me the paper work to take to the front desk to pay for the procedures up to that time. So with his blood drawn and some Pedialite in his belly, Zachary was looking like our happy little baby with his big smiles. The smiles weren't as big as he normally gives but he has been sick. So now we wait for the blood tests.
Dr. Brown comes with the test results to tell us that good news was all looked good with the exception of his white blood cell count was high and it was the white blood cells that fight Bacteria. She had consulted with the Pediatrician and they wanted us to goto Cornwall Regional public hospital to have some tests and admit Zachary for treatment. My heart sank and I started praying. Fear set in, I had be to Cornwall to visit some friends before and did not desire to go back, much less have our baby admitted. The tests needed were a spinal tap to rule out meningitis and a blood and urine culture. My heart sank lower hearing spinal tap and meningitis. I started praying harder trying to be strong and calm for my wife and not show my fear. Also hearing the fact they wanted to admit him to Cornwall, a place where I thought I would not have to visit my children. We told the Dr. that we would like to do the tests and treatment at that hospital. She said they couldn't do the test but maybe the pediatrician would allow them to treat him. meanwhile i'm praying and asking God if we could just wait til tomorrow and fly him out of here. Could it wait, what would that be the wisest decision for our son, who is the best person to stick a needle in my son's spine? I was afraid.  God please help my son, let me take the pain and the risk. I also called a good friend from our church here in Jamaica who is a Dr. and asked for his recommendation. He made some calls and told me that that was the best option, the other Dr that he would recommend was off the island and that Cornwall was the only place to have the tests done.
Then my mind moves to, if we decide to do this, what are we going to do with the other children. Cornwall is a big hospital and we can't have them wait in the car(MoBay Hope is a small hospital and we parked the van just outside the door and we could keep an eye on them). I don't want my wife to go in this hospital alone. What do we do? Who do I call? Our pastor lives near the hospital, maybe he can come sit with the kids. I called and his phone is off, of course it is almost midnight. We scrambled to find his wife's number and she answered and they were more than gracious to come help. We just have to pick them up and I don't know how to get to their house. It is midnight and we need to get to the other hospital. we finally found their house and got to the hospital.
We asked Tanisha to come with us so we went to the emergency room entrance. The guard said only one person can come in with the baby. I almost exploded, I sternly told her that  I am the father and I will be going with my wife and son. She agreed and allowed the parents to go inside so Tanisha headed to the van to help watch the kids. Now we're on the adventure alone, American's in this Jamaican medical system that we don't understand. The guard searched us and our bags(diaper bag and purse), took my pocket knife and allowed us inside to the information desk. We handed the lady at the information desk the letter and she called the 8th floor to verify everything. So we waited for the approval to go up to the Pediatric ward. The nurse called back, fairly quickly and told us to come up to 8W. The lady looked at me and  seeing the look on my face, asked if I knew where that was. I told her "no" so she called someone to lead us. I looked around the room of all the people waiting, wondering how long they had been there and will they ever get treatment? Continually praying for Zachary and these people here.

We are escorted to 8W and told that Dr. Maroo was not there but "soon come". So we waited in the ward with all of the children and babies. There was around 15 children and only 2 mothers with their children. Understand the mothers were sitting in chairs next to their babies crib in big open rooms with up to six cribs in the room and open air. Praying for these children while looking at Zachary and asking God to wrap His arms around these children who's parents weren't able to be there with them.

Dr. Maroo showed up and explained the procedure and told us to wait outside. Jodi asked if she could go with Zachary and I demanded she go. The Dr was concerned with a parent being in the room to watch this procedure on their child.Thankfully God gave me a great wife and strong mother that then went with him. It would have been hard for me to be in the room watching them putting a needle in our sons back, it was bad enough to watch my wife get an epidural when our children was born. 
Jodi and Dr take Zachary to the exam room while I wait out in the ward  to continue praying for Zachary and each of these children here. As I hear Zachary crying my prayers become more intense. I am so thankful that I have a God who cares for me and my family and is a Great God through all of this no matter the outcome. They finish and the Dr tells us that she doesn't feel that there is meningitis because the spinal fluid is clear and not cloudy. Praise God, it's not certain but a glimpse of hope. So we return to the van and take our pastor and his wife home and then back to the other hospital. We arrive they take us to a room with a crib and a bed so we lay our happy baby on the bed and Jodi curls up next to him as the nurse hooks up the IV with the antibiotics. I return to the van to return home so we can all get a little sleep seeing it is now 3am. - Jeffrey