Dengue - Hospital Day 1
Hospital Day 1 (6 July 2009)
I took Laura to see the paediatrician this morning as she had high fever in the weekend. H1N1 was ruled out as she didn’t have flu-like symptoms. She had high fever and was feeling lethargic which usually comes with high fever. Volren suppository brought the fever down. The paed took a look at Laura and asked for a dengue blood test to be done. He called this afternoon to confirm she had dengue and will need to be hospitalized.
Before leaving for the hospital, Laura had nose bleed. It’s the norm with her as she tends to get nose bleed quite often. Her paed had explained that thinner skin in the nose with some children make them prone to getting nose bleed. I paraphrase as I can’t remember the exact term used.
Being unwell and tired, Laura was not her usual trooper self. Two years ago, Laura fell during sports practice. The fall broke her elbow bone. She was very brave throughout the process of getting her elbow fixed and when taking out the pin that was holding the elbow whilst it healed. The orthopedic surgeon and his nurses were most impressed with her. This time around, she wasn’t quite as brave. I understand as she must be so scared, not knowing what’s happening to her as well as feeling tired and sickly. Her paed has been very good and understanding.
In the evening her nose bled again. The nurses came in to get the bleeding to stop. One nurse whom I could see genuinely likes children, managed to stop the bleeding and there was reprise for about an hour. Then her nose bled again. This time, another nurse was around. I must say she pinched Laura’s nose pretty hard. I felt so sorry for my little girl. Her paed came in to see her. He decided it was something he’ll need to refer to an ENT doctor. The ENT doctor was to come by in an hour to see Laura. Something about a plug for the nose was mentioned.
Poor Laura was so tired. She’s been good the whole day. By the evening, she was feeling better, got her appetite back and was feeling in good spirit. We decided to wash up and get some sleep even though the ENT doctor was expected. Soon after falling asleep, the ENT doctor came by and our ordeal began!
My poor baby was woken up from her sleep, surrounded by strangers and the ENT doctor wanted to start what he planning to do straight away. My poor daughter was traumatized. Even though it’s the paediatric ward, the nurses who were attending with the ENT doctor didn’t have a clue how to deal with children. The ENT doctor offered Laura an ice cream after the procedure. Laura was not interested in the ice cream at all. PT and I have always involved our children by explaining to them what’s to be done so they’re not afraid if they need an injection or needed to take yucky tasting medicine that will help make them better. The ENT doctor and nursing staff did not take that into consideration. It was very obvious that the ENT doctor isn’t very patient with children and do not take the time to make a child comfortable before doing what he needed to do. The nurses were ever ready to hold my child down for the ENT doctor to force what he needed to do. I shouted and put my foot down. Asked for a minute to explain to Laura what needed to be done. Poor girl was so scared. Wouldn’t you be if you were waken up from sleep, be surrounded by strangers who were holding up syringes, unknown liquids and such? I would! I knew he wanted to insert something up Laura’s nose, which will act like a sponge to stop the bleeding. I tried to explain that to Laura as calmly as I could. The whole time I glanced at the ENT doctor who showed his impatience. Obviously he didn’t believe in explaining to children. She resisted but at least she calmed down. Even though she still protested when the ENT doctor flushed out her nostrils with the liquid (which I didn’t have a chance to see what it was), applied a thick coating of gel up her nostril and then inserted a plug, she had stopped screaming or resisting. Only after the ordeal did he explain that the plug was necessary to prevent more nose bleed. As Laura’s platelet count go down, the natural ability for the blood to clot will go down as well. Since Laura is prone to nose bleed, that can pose a problem as she’ll be getting nose bleed more. Now if the ENT doctor had explained that first when he first got into the room, he could have gotten all that he needed to do without traumatizing a 9-year-old intelligent little girl and her mom! In probably less time too!
Laura is asleep now. Trying her best to be comfortable. That is tough to do as she needs to breath through her mouth with the plug up her nose. I can’t look at her sleeping without breaking into tears. Looking at my daughter with two plugs up her nose brings back horrible memories. The last time I saw someone with plugs up his nose was at my father’s funeral. That was after he was gone. I can’t do it. I can’t look at my daughter without crying. I’m glad she’s asleep so she won’t see me cry.
I took Laura to see the paediatrician this morning as she had high fever in the weekend. H1N1 was ruled out as she didn’t have flu-like symptoms. She had high fever and was feeling lethargic which usually comes with high fever. Volren suppository brought the fever down. The paed took a look at Laura and asked for a dengue blood test to be done. He called this afternoon to confirm she had dengue and will need to be hospitalized.
Before leaving for the hospital, Laura had nose bleed. It’s the norm with her as she tends to get nose bleed quite often. Her paed had explained that thinner skin in the nose with some children make them prone to getting nose bleed. I paraphrase as I can’t remember the exact term used.
Being unwell and tired, Laura was not her usual trooper self. Two years ago, Laura fell during sports practice. The fall broke her elbow bone. She was very brave throughout the process of getting her elbow fixed and when taking out the pin that was holding the elbow whilst it healed. The orthopedic surgeon and his nurses were most impressed with her. This time around, she wasn’t quite as brave. I understand as she must be so scared, not knowing what’s happening to her as well as feeling tired and sickly. Her paed has been very good and understanding.
In the evening her nose bled again. The nurses came in to get the bleeding to stop. One nurse whom I could see genuinely likes children, managed to stop the bleeding and there was reprise for about an hour. Then her nose bled again. This time, another nurse was around. I must say she pinched Laura’s nose pretty hard. I felt so sorry for my little girl. Her paed came in to see her. He decided it was something he’ll need to refer to an ENT doctor. The ENT doctor was to come by in an hour to see Laura. Something about a plug for the nose was mentioned.
Poor Laura was so tired. She’s been good the whole day. By the evening, she was feeling better, got her appetite back and was feeling in good spirit. We decided to wash up and get some sleep even though the ENT doctor was expected. Soon after falling asleep, the ENT doctor came by and our ordeal began!
My poor baby was woken up from her sleep, surrounded by strangers and the ENT doctor wanted to start what he planning to do straight away. My poor daughter was traumatized. Even though it’s the paediatric ward, the nurses who were attending with the ENT doctor didn’t have a clue how to deal with children. The ENT doctor offered Laura an ice cream after the procedure. Laura was not interested in the ice cream at all. PT and I have always involved our children by explaining to them what’s to be done so they’re not afraid if they need an injection or needed to take yucky tasting medicine that will help make them better. The ENT doctor and nursing staff did not take that into consideration. It was very obvious that the ENT doctor isn’t very patient with children and do not take the time to make a child comfortable before doing what he needed to do. The nurses were ever ready to hold my child down for the ENT doctor to force what he needed to do. I shouted and put my foot down. Asked for a minute to explain to Laura what needed to be done. Poor girl was so scared. Wouldn’t you be if you were waken up from sleep, be surrounded by strangers who were holding up syringes, unknown liquids and such? I would! I knew he wanted to insert something up Laura’s nose, which will act like a sponge to stop the bleeding. I tried to explain that to Laura as calmly as I could. The whole time I glanced at the ENT doctor who showed his impatience. Obviously he didn’t believe in explaining to children. She resisted but at least she calmed down. Even though she still protested when the ENT doctor flushed out her nostrils with the liquid (which I didn’t have a chance to see what it was), applied a thick coating of gel up her nostril and then inserted a plug, she had stopped screaming or resisting. Only after the ordeal did he explain that the plug was necessary to prevent more nose bleed. As Laura’s platelet count go down, the natural ability for the blood to clot will go down as well. Since Laura is prone to nose bleed, that can pose a problem as she’ll be getting nose bleed more. Now if the ENT doctor had explained that first when he first got into the room, he could have gotten all that he needed to do without traumatizing a 9-year-old intelligent little girl and her mom! In probably less time too!
Laura is asleep now. Trying her best to be comfortable. That is tough to do as she needs to breath through her mouth with the plug up her nose. I can’t look at her sleeping without breaking into tears. Looking at my daughter with two plugs up her nose brings back horrible memories. The last time I saw someone with plugs up his nose was at my father’s funeral. That was after he was gone. I can’t do it. I can’t look at my daughter without crying. I’m glad she’s asleep so she won’t see me cry.
posted by Min Chan at
9:08 pm
2 Comments:
Hugs Min, my heart goes out to u and Laura, praying she gets well soon.
Thanks, See Ming. She's better now.
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