Thankful

Two weeks ago, our family went to Dar to pick up our new truck (though that will be another post).  The day after we arrived, Baylor woke up with a fever that stayed with her throughout the day.  It stubbornly refused to respond to Tylenol.  Around 10:00 that night Baylor’s fever shot up and she had a seizure.  We called our nurse friend, Heather, who advised us on other ways to get the fever down and to go to the hospital if she had another seizure.  Her fever did start to go down, however, around 1:00am she had another more violent seizure and we rushed her to the hospital.  Fortunately, we were in Dar, and there was a hospital with a reliable doctor open at that time.  Also fortunately it was the middle of the night so there was no traffic, and a drive that normally takes an hour only took 10 minutes.  

The doctor on call took blood work and gave her some medicine to bring down her fever.  The blood work came back normal.  He assumed it was an infection though, and two hours after we arrived, he gave us antibiotics and ibuprofin and we were on our way home.  Baylor’s fever, though still fairly high, never spiked again and she had no more seizures.  The next day, though obviously still sick, she seemed a little better.  Late in the afternoon, though, she started breaking out in a rash.  By that night, it had spread all over her body.  I’ve never seen a rash this bad.  We called Heather again and she advised us to discontinue both the antibiotics and the ibuprofin, as she’d never had either before, and to go to the doctor the next day. 

So we went to the pediatrician the next morning and they did blood work again and this time it indicated a virus and possibly an infection as well.  The doctor prescribed a different antibiotic and said while Baylor’s allergic reaction was probably due to the first antibiotic it was impossible to be sure so it was necessary to discontinue the ibuprofin as well and then reintroduce them later separately.  She said it was even possible the rash was caused by the virus itself. 

By the fourth day, Baylor’s fever had mostly gone and she seemed to be much more her normal self.  The rash was gone after about 5 days.  We’re not sure what was really going on with her little body, but we’re so thankful she’s better now.