The Frydams in Cranford: The Staphylococcus aureus experience

On Thursday (Jan 28th) Sandra noticed a large bump on Markus' pelvis. I came home from work and we immediately called the pediatrician and set up an appointment to get it checked out Friday morning. We did what every parent is NOT supposed to do -- used the Internet and our parenting book to diagnose Markus with a hernia. We were pretty upset and anxious that night, which made it difficult to sleep. We woke up Friday morning and took Markus to see a pediatrician. We had no idea what was to follow.

The doctor was "concerned", which really made us nervous since doctors don't really say that and he had another doctor look at the bump. They told us to go to Morristown hospital to meet with a pediatric surgeon that they partner with. Morristown is about 30 minutes away from us, but the surgeon was there performing a surgery, so we were sent there to meet him. We immediately went to the Morristown hospital emergency department where about 6 different doctors examined Markus, who was now really upset about the whole thing. Finally around noon, the surgeon examined him. It was determined that Markus had an abscess (an infection underneath the skin). The surgeon stuck a needle in him to drain some fluid to send to the lab. It hurt! They sent us home with some antibiotics to treat the abscess. They told us to come back if his temperature was above 101. We went home that evening around 3 o'clock and ate some lunch/dinner. After an hour or so, we thought Markus was hot, so we checked his temperature and it was 102.4. As if we weren't nervous enough!

We packed up and went BACK to the hospital (this is still Friday). Again with the 5 doctors. The doctor on staff that day said that they probably shouldn't have told us to come back with anything over 101. Freakin' great. Now they say since we're here, we can opt for surgery (requiring Markus to be sedated) OR continue with the antibiotics. Since it was early with the antibiotic treatment, we decided to stick with the original plan, knowing that the fever was okay and treated with Motrin. And we set up a follow up appointment with our pediatrician in the morning.

Home again Friday night. We eventually got to sleep. At 3:00 a.m., I woke up with some sort of stomach virus. Into the bathroom I ran, vomiting...enough said. And then every hour after that. Morning came and Markus' infection was looking slightly worse, not better. I was unable to really move...I was miserable and I couldn't stop throwing up every hour. I honestly couldn't make it to the doctor. Sandra's mother came down and they went to the pediatrician. I tried to rest, but I felt terrible, both physically and mentally. Sandra called me to say pediatrician wants Markus to go to the hospital to do intravenous antibiotics. I was barely able to walk, so Sandra went with her mom to Overlook hospital. Finally, around 11:00 I managed to go a few hours without any "interruptions" and I ate an apple, drank a bunch of water, took a Tylenol and went to the hospital.

When I got there I found out that we would be there at least overnight. This was now Saturday afternoon. So there we are at the hospital, our little guy with an IV, I’m barely functioning and Sandra with a cold (and 6 months pregnant!) as well. Later that day both our parents came down and stayed with us for a while. The room they gave us was nice – had a raised crib, bed (for Sandra) and a nice pleather couch for me to sleep.

Anyway, the idea was to keep Markus in IV antibiotics (IVAB) to get the maximum effectiveness. The surgeon would see the results the next day and determine if he needed to do something (draining the infection with a needle or through surgery), or continue IVAB. I think we got some sleep that night, and the next morning (Sunday) the doctor checked him out and said that we should continue doing IVAB until there is a real reason to do any incisions. We also did warm compresses. The warm compresses seemed to be working to raise the infection and drain as much pus as possible without surgery. Although it is quite horrible to see Markus crying in pain while the doctor is poking and squeezing, the IVAB and compresses were working. The infected site started looking better and the we were told to continue this treatment.

Sandra’s parents and sister and Markus’ godparents came to visit and this allowed us to go home, clean up and bring some things back with us as we knew we were going to have to stay at the hospital for at least another day. So now it was Sunday night, and it has been a long, long weekend.

Now, having said all that, Markus is doing very well. The infection doesn’t bother him or hurt (as long as doctor’s aren’t poking at it) and he is basically the same active little guy. He hasn’t had a fever all day today, and the area looks better. All great things. They have toys for him to play with and both Sandra and I are here with him.

Anyway, I have a laptop here and I’m going to work from the hospital on Monday and possibly Tuesday. I’m exhausted now (oh, I finally got my appetite back this evening) and going to sleep on my pleather couch.

Monday came and I made a few calls and e-mails to explain the situation at work. At this point Markus was doing much better and his infection was under control. He had an IV dose every eight hours, for one hour each dose. Nurses would come in periodically to check his temperature and blood pressure. Markus didn't have a fever since Saturday, and we didn't give him Motrin Sunday or Monday. Again, we were there all day Monday into Tuesday.

Finally, on Tuesday 4:00 p.m., the doctor said that we could go home and continue with oral antibiotics. No surgery needed and hopefully the infection site will heal with the AB. We were so glad to go home! It's now Sunday night (after the Saints just won the Superbowl) and we've gone all week with the oral AB. Markus is doing great and life is pretty much back to normal. He even LIKES the medicine! (I think it's strawberry flavored).

The hospital (Overlook) really did a good job of trying to make us feel comfortable. They gave Markus a bunch of toys to play with, they have a play room, televisions, DVDs, as well as a masseuse (which Sandra took advantage of) and even a musical coordinator who will sing to Markus if he needs help sleeping. Really great staff over there.

Anyway, that's the scoop of our weekend last weekend. The whole ordeal knocked us out of our day-to-day grind and it just makes us appreciate how fortunate we are. We're so blessed with Markus and there are no words to describe the anxiety/sadness/emotions you feel when your child is sick in any way. There was a little scare that Thursday and Friday, and your mind just worries about the worst. Human nature, I guess. No matter how much you know that things will probably be okay, it's tough to shake the worry.

Well, so our lives as parents continue. I'm sure this won't be the last scare, but we'll do our best to make sure it is!