My brave little girl has now been to the doctor not once but twice for follow-up visits since her surgery in April. I know many of you have asked how she is doing since all that chaos - Keep reading for a full update on what's happened since we left the hospital!At first, everything was going great - Katelyn was improving, she regained use of her leg within just a few days of returning home. We started her back in her Mother's Day Out program, which helped significantly with her clingy-ness issues with Mommy. We had to postpone her allergy test because of conflicts with the Clindamycin (antibiotic) she continued to take after release from the hospital. She spent a total of 6 weeks on the antibiotic, 3 doses / day. In the hospital she got her meds through her IV; but at home we had to give it to her orally. Every doctor, tech, pharmacist, pharmacy employee... everyone we talked with about her antibiotics told us how gross it tastes and how difficult it would be to get her to swallow. They were all right! We eventually found that by mixing it with a few tablespoons of yogurt or apple sauce, she would take it. So 3 times a day (including one dose at 3am given by my amazing husband) she had a bowl of yogurt or apple sauce. Needless to say, we actually did a dance when we gave her the last dose at home!
By the time she went back for her first follow-up we were very excited about her progress! We thought for sure she would be cleared and we could go on with our lives. While her follow-up appointment went as well as could be expected, she was not cleared. Her doctors were very encouraged by the bloodwork at that visit - both CRP and ESR levels had dropped since her last day at the hospital and were back to within normal ranges - but they wanted to check her levels one more time 2 weeks after her last dose of Clinda. So, we waited about another month and headed back to Dallas for follow-up appointment #2. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
Between follow-up appointments 1 & 2, our baby girl spiked a little fever. Nothing major - very low, never going above 100.5, but technically a fever, which was NOT supposed to be possible on such a strong antibiotic. So we rushed to the doctor and she rushed us to the hospital for more bloodwork. The first set showed a slightly elevated CRP level, a scary thing that could indicate more infection in her hip. So we waited through the weekend and had another test done on Monday to confirm the increase, but luckily the second set of bloodwork pointed towards a viral infection, meaning something different from her hip. Sure enough, her "fever" went away and we never saw any signs of discomfort in her hip. Whew.
Now, back to follow-up appointment #2. Having been there before, we had the routine down this time: we showed up an hour early, rocked through her bloodwork, and then headed upstairs to wait for her exray's. They wanted to take a look at the bones in her left hip to make sure the infected fluid hadn't caused any damage structurally. When we met with the doctors, they told us her blood work was once again perfect and that her exray's also looked clear. We expected to hear the magical words, "We think she's over this thing now." Instead, we heard, "But we'd like you to come back one more time... in 6 months." More exray's. More blood work. Apparently, damage from this fluid to the structure of her hip can take up to 6 months to appear on an exray, so back to Dallas we go at the turn of the year.
As I'm sure you can sense in my sarcastic tone, we are less than excited about a return trip to Dallas. It's an all-day adventure with a toddler strapped in a carseat - and those adventures are never fun. But, even as I complain about the return trip, I am SO incredibly grateful that she has improved as much as she has - and I am equally grateful for the diligence our doctors have shown in her care. I would much rather make one more trip to Dallas than to discover in a few years that she has major structural damage to her hip.
All in all... it's not such a bad drive to Dallas - plus, there's always Fadi's Mediterranean Grill to help me get through it! (It's our new favorite Dallas restaurant)
So, thanks again for all the prayers for our baby girl. She is so precious to us! We love you all!
