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
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