An ER visit...

I just wasn't prepared. Years serving as a volunteer at Children's Hospital in Boston and a sister to both a pediatrician and a surgeon didn't give me the strength I needed when having to endure a visit to Winchester Hospital's emergency room earlier this week with our little Aramis. While giving him a bath, we noticed a red circle around his left breast/nipple. We thought it was wierd and sent a photo to Uncle Erick and Auntie Beth who within two minutes, discerned it as an abcess needing immediate medical attention. It's seven o'clock in the evening, so we called our own pediatrician's office, and were advised to take him into the ER. Fortunately, we were seen fairly quickly, and were told he needed IV antibiotics and bloodwork for something called cellulitis (a staph or strep infection, basically). I was okay with the bloodwork, but NOT okay with an IV. Some background: Abigail was permanently scarred for life because of an improperly placed IV (called an infiltrate) while she was in the NICU soon after she was born. Not surprising, Aramis too suffered the initial affects of an infiltrate when he had an IV after birth (which we had removed before it could do any serious damage--having learned through Abby's experience what to look for, etc.). So, I'm not a fan of IVs. After speaking with both the ER doc and two nurses, we arrived at a compromise, which was a IM (inter muscular) injection of antibiotics and oral meds. After the bloodwork came back and we learned that little Aramis' white count was up, we gave him a shot, some oral meds and waited to make sure he didn't have an allergic reaction. Now a few days later, we're still worried that the abcess will have to be lanced at some point, but happy that we caught it so quickly. Otherwise, it could have spread and worsened. So, a lovely side affect to all these antibiotics are both explosive diarrhea, irritability (as if the twins could be any more irritable...) and a serious problem with gut flora (the stuff that breaks down food in the belly). It'll be an interesting few weeks, but thankfully, Abby has been a great big sister and helper and Alec is trying his hardest to whine only when we're not focused on Aramis. :) I was happy that we didn't spend 10 hours in the ER (normal wait time...) and that we were able to bring Aramis home without having him admitted, but let's just say that I hope we won't have to see much of the ER in years to come as it is a place I'd just as soon avoid.