Bad news: last Saturday Lily took Joshua to the ER because of a sudden fever, just to be on the cautious side. When I got there, the doctors had already looked at Joshua and the nurse told us that they will have to perform a lumbar puncture on him because they suspected that it could be meningitis. We were floored! We had no idea what kind of a threat that was to Joshua, and our hearts sank. It hit me when the nurse said we'd be much better off if we left and waited in the lobby while they performed the lumbar puncture on our newborn boy. Lily was devastated and began weeping as we walked out of the ER room. We sat outside quietly at first, then we scoured the internet researching what meningitis meant. In all the sites we found, these words stood out "meningitis can be fatal". I kept telling Lily the chances are slim that it is meningitis...
They finally let us back in the ER where Joshua was crying so hard he was gasping for air. They took samples of his spinal fluid (via lumbar puncture) for testing. An hour later the doctor told us that initial results confirmed meningitis because of an extremely high white blood cell count. The final test results would not be for another 72 hours after they initiated lab cultures for bacterial meningitis. He was also slightly jaundiced. They had to transfer Joshua to ICU at CHOC (Childrens Hospital in Orange County). In there he stayed for a couple of days as we awaited the final test results from the spinal tap. He was also treated with antibiotics, on IV therapy, and they ended up attaching him to a respirator because of his weakened breathing.
Good news: (jumping forward in time) Joshua fought hard like a true hero warrior. They moved him from ICU into a regular hospital room. After a few days his body began to look better (no more jaundice), he was feeding ok, his breathing improved, and the final results from the bacteria culture turned out to be negative. It was a huge relief to know he did not have bacterial meningitis. It was viral, which is much less severe. Eventually Joshua recovered and is now home again with us.
(These images were taken from my iPhone) The paramedics were transferring him from the ER to CHOC
In mommy's arms in ICU
A HUGE thanks to all our friends and family who kept Joshua in their prayers during this frightening ordeal. I'll be posting more pics of our healthy son in his own brand new blog page.
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