Isabella’s Kawasaki Disease Story
On May 16, 2007 I rushed my 4 month old daughter to St. Lukes E.R., it was close to bed time when she started crying non-stop while pushing her knees into her stomach and stiffing up her whole body. She had a fever the whole day and was dismissed as a simple teething fever by her pediatrician, yet once we arrived at the E.R. her increased crying and pain worried me more. As soon as she arrived dozens of doctors and nurses surrounded her taking all types of samples and conducting all sorts of tests including a spinal tap. 2 A.M. came and still no word on what she could have, we were transferred to a room and waited for the results wich all came back negative. The next morning she had finished breast-feeding when she again began stiffing up and pushing her knees unto her stomach, the doctors checked her and concluded she had a condition were her instentines were tangled up and was going to need immediate surgery. We were transferred to California Pacific Medical Center with a scheduled appoinment upon our arrival for an abdominal ultrasound, once it was confirmed that her intestines were tangled up she was supposed to be operated right away, yet the ultrasound showed no sign of that it showed her gallbladder being extremely enlarged and was put on IV fluids since feeding her could cause her gallbladder to burst. We were back to the beginning with no idea what was wrong with her, doctors came in and out with no results and no clue to what she had, on our second evening a doctor came in to inform us she had a "virus" and was going to be observed overnite and released the next morning. It all felt so wrong a "virus" with no name and no treatment nor medicine was going to be given to her since she was so young. The high fevers continued reaching 105 degrees, on the 3rd morning the doctor arrived to discharge her when I showed her a huge rash she had developed overnite all over her chest and back, she checked her, talked to other doctors and said " I think she has Kawasaki disease" I said KAWA WHAT? Kawasaki disease she told me like the motorcycle. A million questions rushed to my mind when I was told this Was she going to be ok? was the first, yes, she said, she explained to me it was a disease that caused inflammation to the heart and body, damage to the heart was possible but since she was diagnosed early the chances were slim. An infectious disease specialist came to see my daughter and concurred with the doctors it was Kawasaki disease, on the 4th night she was given an IVIG treatment, she was observed 24 hours after the treatment was done. By then her tongue was swollen bright red "strawberry toungue" her lips were so cracked dry they bleed to the softest touch, the rash had spread, and she was in extreme pain I felt helpless not being able to help my baby her only comfort was being held which I did day and night. On the 5th night the fevers continued, extremely high, she was given motrin, yet it only kept it down for a few hours, new test showed she had a few damage to her liver due to so much motrin so they started her on aspirin. A second IVIG treatment was started on the 5th night, a few hours into it I felt water on her arm and found the needle had fallen out from her tiny hand and the IVIG treatment had been leaking out, the nurse had to stop the treatment for the doctors to put a new needle and treatment in. Hours later close to the 6th day the treatment was started again, once it was done she was again observed for 24 hours, my baby was slowly coming back to herself she was playing again and slowly began drinking pedyalite. She was observed on the 7th day through the 8th day of her stay and on the 8th night the fevers had return, high again. A 3rd treatment was going to be started on the 9th day, all she did was sleep in my arms, she was checked and was found that her gallbladder was slowly returning to its size and the rash was dissapearng so they couldnt understand why the fevers persisted, a bright doctor checked her ears and found she had an ear infection as well that had developed along with a cold she caught at the hospital. We were relieved, still she was observed overnite and we would be released the next morning. She was released on the 10th day :) she was given an antibiotic for the ear infection, the fevers had gone down, the rash was gone, she had two echocardiograms done during her stay which found no murmurs or aneurysms on her heart, she was going to be fine. She was given aspirin for 2 and a half months yet was cut down to a month on her follow up cardio appoinment which again found no damage to her heart. A week after she was released the skin of her fingertips and toes began to peel off. A year later she had an abdominal ultrasound done that showed her gallbladder was back to its normal size. The worst feeling in the world is seeing your child in pain and being so helpless not being able to do anything for them, I am so grateful to all the doctors at California Pacific Medical Center who treated my daughter who diagnosed her correctly and soon enough. Isabella is 22 months old now, she loves swimming, dancing, Dora the Explorer and going to the park, she is my strong Kawasaki baby!
On May 16, 2007 I rushed my 4 month old daughter to St. Lukes E.R., it was close to bed time when she started crying non-stop while pushing her knees into her stomach and stiffing up her whole body. She had a fever the whole day and was dismissed as a simple teething fever by her pediatrician, yet once we arrived at the E.R. her increased crying and pain worried me more. As soon as she arrived dozens of doctors and nurses surrounded her taking all types of samples and conducting all sorts of tests including a spinal tap. 2 A.M. came and still no word on what she could have, we were transferred to a room and waited for the results wich all came back negative. The next morning she had finished breast-feeding when she again began stiffing up and pushing her knees unto her stomach, the doctors checked her and concluded she had a condition were her instentines were tangled up and was going to need immediate surgery. We were transferred to California Pacific Medical Center with a scheduled appoinment upon our arrival for an abdominal ultrasound, once it was confirmed that her intestines were tangled up she was supposed to be operated right away, yet the ultrasound showed no sign of that it showed her gallbladder being extremely enlarged and was put on IV fluids since feeding her could cause her gallbladder to burst. We were back to the beginning with no idea what was wrong with her, doctors came in and out with no results and no clue to what she had, on our second evening a doctor came in to inform us she had a "virus" and was going to be observed overnite and released the next morning. It all felt so wrong a "virus" with no name and no treatment nor medicine was going to be given to her since she was so young. The high fevers continued reaching 105 degrees, on the 3rd morning the doctor arrived to discharge her when I showed her a huge rash she had developed overnite all over her chest and back, she checked her, talked to other doctors and said " I think she has Kawasaki disease" I said KAWA WHAT? Kawasaki disease she told me like the motorcycle. A million questions rushed to my mind when I was told this Was she going to be ok? was the first, yes, she said, she explained to me it was a disease that caused inflammation to the heart and body, damage to the heart was possible but since she was diagnosed early the chances were slim. An infectious disease specialist came to see my daughter and concurred with the doctors it was Kawasaki disease, on the 4th night she was given an IVIG treatment, she was observed 24 hours after the treatment was done. By then her tongue was swollen bright red "strawberry toungue" her lips were so cracked dry they bleed to the softest touch, the rash had spread, and she was in extreme pain I felt helpless not being able to help my baby her only comfort was being held which I did day and night. On the 5th night the fevers continued, extremely high, she was given motrin, yet it only kept it down for a few hours, new test showed she had a few damage to her liver due to so much motrin so they started her on aspirin. A second IVIG treatment was started on the 5th night, a few hours into it I felt water on her arm and found the needle had fallen out from her tiny hand and the IVIG treatment had been leaking out, the nurse had to stop the treatment for the doctors to put a new needle and treatment in. Hours later close to the 6th day the treatment was started again, once it was done she was again observed for 24 hours, my baby was slowly coming back to herself she was playing again and slowly began drinking pedyalite. She was observed on the 7th day through the 8th day of her stay and on the 8th night the fevers had return, high again. A 3rd treatment was going to be started on the 9th day, all she did was sleep in my arms, she was checked and was found that her gallbladder was slowly returning to its size and the rash was dissapearng so they couldnt understand why the fevers persisted, a bright doctor checked her ears and found she had an ear infection as well that had developed along with a cold she caught at the hospital. We were relieved, still she was observed overnite and we would be released the next morning. She was released on the 10th day :) she was given an antibiotic for the ear infection, the fevers had gone down, the rash was gone, she had two echocardiograms done during her stay which found no murmurs or aneurysms on her heart, she was going to be fine. She was given aspirin for 2 and a half months yet was cut down to a month on her follow up cardio appoinment which again found no damage to her heart. A week after she was released the skin of her fingertips and toes began to peel off. A year later she had an abdominal ultrasound done that showed her gallbladder was back to its normal size. The worst feeling in the world is seeing your child in pain and being so helpless not being able to do anything for them, I am so grateful to all the doctors at California Pacific Medical Center who treated my daughter who diagnosed her correctly and soon enough. Isabella is 22 months old now, she loves swimming, dancing, Dora the Explorer and going to the park, she is my strong Kawasaki baby!
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