We Went from an Ear Infection to THIS?!?!

Wow! Things sure change quick in our little slice of heaven! Mark and I took Anthony to the pediatrician's office yesterday morning. He was running a low grade temperature and was pulling on BOTH ears. Uh, oh! Infected ears again! Well, not quite. The doctor we saw said his ears had a bit of clear fluid in each, but that they were not infected. So we went back home, puzzled over what new thing was causing Anthony's fever (and why the HECK was he pulling on his ears?). We arrived home just in time for nap time, and Anthony slept for three hours. When he woke up, however, the area behind his right ear was so swollen that his ear was sticking out, almost perpendicular to his head. And his temperature was higher.

After little debate, we decided to take him to the ER. This was just not right. We were quickly seen by a doctor there, and he felt that Anthony might have an infection in his mastoid bone. He consulted with an ENT, who would come to see Anthony eventually, and it was decided that he needed more Rocephin. An IV was started, and the antiobiotics were hung. A CT scan was ordered to take a look at his "lump". That was quickly performed, and an ENT came to discuss the results with us.

Anthony had an abscess on/near/around his mastoid bone(see information on mastoiditis ), and was going to need surgery. Almost right away. However, there's no one in Baton Rouge who specializes in pediatric ENT surgery to the extent that Anthony was going to require. An ambulance transport was being arranged, and surgery was being scheduled at Children's Hospital in New Orleans. All of this in the course of three hours.

About an hour later, Acadian Ambulance strolled in with a bed to strap Anthony's car seat to...and we were on our way. I rode in the ambulance with Anthony, Mark had gone home to pack a few nights worth of stuff (two duffels, a suitcase and a booksack), Mark's parents were not far behind Mark, and my parents were already in New Orleans at a wedding.

We spent some time in the ER at Children's going over the normal round of questions (I usually have a typed sheet of Anthony's medical history to hand to the millions of students, residents, specialists, curious nurses, etc...it's been a while, so I didn't have one handy!). We signed off on the surgery, and took Anthony to the OR room. Having to hand him to the nurse was one of the hardest things I have had to do! With the transplant he was too young to realize Mama was leaving him. Last night, he cried! Poor me. :)

We were told the surgery would last about 1-2 hours, but to plan on 2. So when Mark called 45 minutes after we left Anthony, we were surprised to hear that they were finishing up. I was SO convinced we were going to hear bad news. They told us that they were able to sucessfully put tubes in Anthony's ears (the normal tubes kids get with recurring ear infections), they had drained and removed the abscess, and that they didn't have to remove his mastoid bone! That was wonderful to hear. The mastoid bone was alive, and looking good. They had felt that it was going to be dead, or heading there. The wound has been left open for now, with packing in that has a bacterial killing agent on it. Anthony will also likely receive a week's worth of antibiotics (Rocephin and Clindamyacin). They will slowly remove the packing this week, and will eventually allow the wound to close (or they will close it; I'm a little sketchy on those details).

Anthony spent a (sort of) restful remainder of the night, and is still sleeping now. He has had vital signs taken EVERY HOUR, and more blood drawn at 5:30 this morning. Despite all of that, he goes right back to sleep with little encouragement and is snoring! He was prescribed Tylenol with Codeine for pain but hasn't needed any as of yet.

Below are two pictures of Anthony. One was taken last night at the ER back home (while he was really playful...that's his "snoota" face) and the other was taken right after we got to Anthony in recovery at Children's. I'm not sure how long the cup and strap will stay on. I imagine they'd like him to leave it alone, but I know that's not going to happen when he wakes up and has a little energy.





Please keep us in your prayers, and I will update as the week progresses! Also, a clue into how quickly an ear can get infected: the ENT at the ER back home said nothing about Anthony's ears being infected, and she would have said something if they were. The ENT at Children's said BOTH ears were infected. LOVELY!

With much love, Laurie, Mark and Anthony (I apologize for any disjointed sentences or spelling errors...I'm working on very little sleep)

Coming up in Anthony-land:
Lots of snuggling and playing "let's not go stir crazy in the hospital"