Stephen's Journey: Admitted

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Admitted

How things changed in the matter of minutes!! A minute after I posted this afternoon, I went in to check on Stephen and noticed he was super hot and sweaty. I instantly took his temperature and would you know it, he had a 101 degree fever. The pediatrician told me to get him to the ER, so that's where we are now.

Turns out, my intuition was right; Stephen has a very nasty case of peritonitis. An infection of the peritoneum. They pulled off some fluid out of his belly (the cycler leaves 60 ml's in his belly during the day) and it was milky yellow. It's supposed to be completely clear. So we are being admitted tonight to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Hopefully our stay will be short lived, but who knows.

5 comments:

ciaraApril 27, 2011 at 8:31 PM
Hang in there linds. You have the comfort of knowing you are in great hands.
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KimApril 27, 2011 at 8:49 PM
We're thinking of you & hoping to hear some good news soon!
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AnonymousApril 27, 2011 at 9:41 PM
Thinking of you and keeping you in our prayers.
Love,
Aunt LuAnn & Uncle Dick
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lehighfillApril 28, 2011 at 11:47 AM
Sending prayers your way!
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Betsey IvinsApril 30, 2011 at 7:27 AM
I was so sorry to read this! Praying for you all.
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Our Crazy Kidney Life

As many of you already know, our son Stephen, was born with a very rare kidney disease called Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD). When the disease was discovered during my 27th week of pregnancy, Stephen was given a less than 1% chance of living more than a few hours past birth. He was to have such severely underdeveloped lungs that the doctors said he would likely not even take one breath. However, on January 4, 2011, we were granted our 1st miracle - and Stephen came into this world crying (and breathing!) and fighting for his life with fierce determination. At 6 days old he had BOTH of his kidneys removed and began peritoneal dialysis. Stephen came home from the hospital when he was 59 days old requiring 12 hours of dialysis every night as well as enteral (feeding tube) feeds during the day and overnight.

On May 9, 2013, we were granted our 2nd miracle, in the form of a new kidney from an extremely generous friend. Stephen received a kidney from a non-related living donor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He spent 13 days in the hospital recovering from his big surgery and ever since has been living life the fullest! His life is still a delicate balance of medications and weekly lab work, but he's an extremely vibrant, loving, active 2.5 year old.

This blog is Stephen's journey told through my eyes (his mother's), thoughts, and emotions, with extreme highs and lows. But there's no way we would be where we are today without all of the support, thoughts and prayers from our family, friends, and readers! Thank you!!