ER

I'm backdating these posts to help people get a better sequence of events. On Saturday morning, Sam woke up with severe pain in her lower right abdomen and a fever of 102.7. Thinking it was appendicitis, we took her to her primary doctor for evaluation. By the time we got there her temp was up to 103.6. Agreeing with our assessment, the doctor sent us to the hospital for a CT scan. Since Sam has hypothyroidism and juvenile arthritis, they wanted us to go to LeBonheur Children's Hospital on the opposite side of Memphis instead of our local hospital. We got there around 10:30 a.m., and each bump in the road was excruciating to her.

As was expected, the wait was long. But once they did her initial assessment, she was taken right back ahead of other children the nurses deemed less needy. Once doctors seemed convinced she'd need surgery, an IV was started to relieve dehydration. Sam HATES needles. I realize no one likes them, but seeing one is enough to make her hyperventilate and toss her cookies. She was brave though. The poor kid also had to be catheterized to obtain a "cleaner" sample.

Instead of confirming appendicitis, the CT scan found something different: pyelonephritis, or a kidney infection. One that was severe enough to warrant IV antibiotics and admission to the hospital.