Cayman's Trip to the Hospital

Tomorrow barely came, and Cayman had not perked up.

Racking up her list of "firsts"-today Cayman had her first shortest hospital stay totaling 10 1/2 hours.

We took Cayman to the E.R. early this morning {2 a.m.}.

Yesterday evening she was still vomiting. I called her Naturopathic Doctor to inform him and seek his advice. Cayman was in his office just this past Monday. Her body scan had shown positive for a flu virus, but she had no symptoms of it yet. On Monday the Naturopathic Doctor recommended two homeopathic remedies that would hopefully ward it off and boost her immunity. I guess the virus was too strong though. Three days later, on Thursday she became ill.

Because the body scan had clearly shown a flu virus we were not overly concerned that the vomiting was related to anything else. Naturally, we always keep our eye out for other possibilities, like a shunt failure, but having been down that path already several times, we felt confident that this was not like a shunt failure.

Yesterday, Cayman vomited continuously. We no longer could tell how much pedialyte was actually staying in her so we started to watch and take count of her wet diapers.

When I woke up at 1:30 a.m. to check on Cayman and try to get more fluids down her, I was greatly concerned to see the diaper we had put on her nine hours ago was still bone dry.

Mike said, "OK, let's get around and go."

I completely agreed it was time to take her to the hospital. With no urine output and only having one kidney I did not want to just wait it out. It was time for the medical team to engage.

Our first delimna...

Which hospital E.R. should we take her to?

She's only seen the pediatrician here in our new location once but Ann Arbor is two hours away. Should we travel up there since that's where she has always received her hospitalization care and they know her the best? It was almost 2 a.m., we were tired, worried, and came to the thought that a specialist isn't needed for dehydration, so we chose the local hospital as our best option. Since we have moved to our new location {further away from Ann Arbor} we have been hoping to establish the security of having a local medical center to take Cayman to. Unfortunately, we still feel lost and on our own. Cayman's many anomalies complicates her care for doctors that are unfamiliar with her and because we have chosen to not vaccinate her, doctors get concerned about that too.

The E.R. doctor at the local hospital wanted to run more tests than we were comfortable with. After not finding much common ground that the doctor and we could agree on, the decision was mutual-Cayman should be transported to Ann Arbor.

Another first for Cayman- an ambulance ride.

{getting Cayman ready to board the ambulance}


{all bundled up and ready to go}

{I stayed with Cayman while Mike drove up separate.}

{definitely not the bright, perky Cayman we are use to}

The EMT's were wonderful-so caring and thorough. I really appreciated the way they took care of Cayman.

Once we arrived at the U of M hospital, I stepped out of the ambulance, and felt calm. It's not exactly Home Sweet Home, but it's a place of familiarity. A place I put a lot of trust and confidence in. A place where I feel our decisions, as the parents, are respected.

I was not the only one who perked up and was feeling better-Cayman was too. The IV fluids seemed to be making her more alert and interactive. She was looking around, reaching for her toys, gave us just one but very precious smile, and she even babbled a little bit.

{at U of M hospital}

The on call Neurosurgeon came to Cayman's bedside to exam her. He felt the same as us, her shunt had not failed nor was infected.

Ruling that out, the E.R. doctor ordered for a belly x-ray to be done. It came back normal, showing no bowel obstructions.

So after plenty of IV fluids pumped into her, drinking orally without vomiting, and several wet diapers later, the doctor felt it was most likely just a stomach bug, nothing more. She discharged Cayman and sent us home.

{chewing on the car seat strap...something she has to do every time}

Cayman is very tired and still sick but having her fluids replenished I think she will be on the mend now, I pray.

{Daddy and Cayman taking a nap after our very long night/day.}