looking a bit better

movie time
Originally uploaded by skyec.

Hi all, just a few minutes for another update before I head back to the hospital (Carla's with Aidan now).

Aidan was asleep when I returned last night and slept right through to 10am (and so did I!). He looks a bit better today. The pits around his eyes don't look as dark and the left side of his face seems to be less swollen. The nurse today thought that the welling on his gums is down a bit too. He hasn't had any fevers and is feeling well in all other respects. This is all good news but it isn't enough positive progress to let him come home. The folks at the hospital really want to make sure that everything is firmly under control before releasing him.

While he is still quite sore he is now able to raise his upper lip enough that we can actually see what's going on in there. His right tooth has clearly moved and you can really see the swelling on his gums. I wish all this was so clear when we first looked at him on the 26th.

Carla called a few minutes ago to report that he has been napping for a few hours and had enjoyed a good quiet afternoon with only one minor scare (a toy fell on his had where the IV needle goes in). Iain and Austin paid him a visit earlier in the afternoon but they are back home with me now.

I'm going to return for my shift now so that Carla can return an partake in the New Year's celebrations tonight (I'm happy to curl up with a book).

I don't have any new pictures today. I messed up my memory card somehow and lost today's first batch of pictures. The day's not over however so I hope to get some more that I can upload tomorrow (and let's hope that the ones from tomorrow AM will show some real visible progress!).

goofing off

goofing off
Originally uploaded by skyec.

Aidan was feeling much better this evening. We were able to play games making faces, telling jokes and here you see him making strange body shapes. It's not clear that we're seeing much change in the swelling but his skin looks better, he looks brighter and there's a sense that the swelling is going down.

Be sure to check out: http://flickr.com/photos/skyec/sets/1696023/ to see all the pictures for the day.

Finally some answers

The good news is that we think that we know what we're dealing with. It took sitting in an observation room at BC Children's for 5 1/2 hours but now we have some comfort around what's happening. A couple Dr's there confirmed that what Aidan is experiencing is not a full blow abscess but Cellulitis as suspected yesterday. They still don't fully know why this is happening but Cellulitis can be treated which once reduced will allow a specialist to take a closer look at what's happening in there.

Here's a quick overview of today's events:

9:30am we arrive at our dentist's office and he does a quick exam and takes an x-ray. The x-ray doesn't show anything obvious but it is the first time that we've seen one of Aidan's teeth and it's clear that he has had trauma in that region some time ago. 3 years ago Aidan had a nasty bump on that tooth while at the pool and the tooth turned gray. We're now thinking that this injury damaged the tooth in some way that got aggravated recently (more on this in a bit). Aidan's still looking quite puffy with no signs of improvement at this point (3 doses of Clindamycin - often used to help HIV patients). At this point our dentist feels that Aidan should see a specialist at BC Children's Hospital and he sends us on our way (with the x-ray in hand).

10:00am we arrive at BC Children's Hospital and for some reason they weren't expecting us which confused them at first as I guess the normal procedure would have been for our dentist or LGH to have called them in advance. We get through all the screening and get to see the ER duty Dr. He's very helpful but doesn't think that Aidan is in an extreme situation that requires ER treatment (we get very confused at this point). He gives us a good explanation as to what we should be expecting regarding timelines and symptoms (this is our first real peak into what's really going on). The only real complication he sees right now is that there might be something more wrong with Aidan's tooth and that the ER dentist will have to see it. He puts in the call and we settle in to wait, and wait, and wait, .... and wait.

12:00pm We are all starving so I run out to the van to get a few granola bars and we have a quick snack.

12:15pm Aidan's thirsty so we ask a nurse for water and find out that he's not supposed to be eating or drinking anything! I guess they didn't make it clear that he may have to go into OR if things were bad enough! No harm done at this point so we go back to waiting, and waiting and waiting.

2:00pm Time for Aidan's next dose of Clindamycin so the nurse phones LGH to get his dosage information and sets up the IV. Aidan has a really tough time with it as it's very painful ... in then end it worked but he's very tender on that arm now.

2:20pm The Dentist finally shows up (he's the ER dentist for more than one hospital apparently) and promptly gives Aidan the most thorough exam we've seen yet (well worth the wait). This guy's great. Here's basically what he said:

• Aidan's right front tooth (51 if that means anything) has experienced both some past and recent trauma.
  
• It appears to have been shifted both back and up
  
• he has a large patch of swelling in his gums just above that tooth which is very tender (Aidan was in pain but lay there quietly through the whole exam)
  
• the x-ray doesn't show any signs of a fracture but the dentist would like to see more x-rays before ruling that out
  
• the x-ray did show that the tooth is quite damaged though most of the damage is old
  
• when a tooth is pushed back this tends to push the root out, into the gums more which can lead to all sorts of problems and he suspects that this is what happened to Aidan
  
• Aidan doesn't have an abscess at this point, while the tissue is swollen it is fairly firm which means that it's simply battling the infection and there isn't any buildup of "bad stuff" (can't remember the technical term he used)
  
• he didn't recommend an emergency incision at this point to drain the area as he doesn't think that there's actually anything to drain (just blood which is just doing it's job).
  
• Aidan's blood counts and readings look very good and clearly show signs that his body is fighting the infection (very normal and very encouraging)
  
• Aidan's not had any recent fever and the only one that he has had so far was rather mild which is another sign that his body is doing a good job of fighting this
  
• Aidan's spirits are up (aside from having to wait in a small room all day) and doesn't appear "sick" which is another good sign at this point
  
• in his opinion there is a very good chance that Aidan is going to loose this tooth
  
• we'll be getting a call from BCCH next week for a consultation and to see if it needs to be taken out (he'll need to be put under General)
  
• Aidan's to continue on with the antibiotics until everything is cleared up
  

I'm not sure that that is very clear as it was a lot of information to absorb today. The bottom line is that we now know for sure what we're up against and what to look for if things don't keep getting better and that Aidan's going to need some sort of dental work once the infection is cleared up.

Carla's with Aidan at the hospital right now and we'll be keeping him there until at least tomorrow. They want to see visible signs for progress before discharging him and switching him to oral antibiotics. With any luck we'll have him home for most of the weekend. :)

Carla will want to post her thoughts on this later tonight so stay tuned.

sleeping photograph

aidan's mystery
Originally uploaded by skyec.

Here's a quick picture of him sleeping this evening.

pictures from this evening's visit

I've uploaded some of the pictures from this evening to flickr. You can view them here:

http://flickr.com/photos/skyec/sets/1696023/

Visiting hours update

Visiting hours are over and I have a bit more information to share.

I managed to speak with the pediatrician again this evening but he didn't have any big news for us. The blood tests didn't come back with much that was interesting. The on thing that he did say was that, "his inflammatory indicators are high, this could indicate an infection." One more small piece of the puzzle but still no answers. He has asked that we make an appointment with our dentist for tomorrow as the dentist may be able to see if there's some kind of tooth trauma that could be related (the hospital doesn't have the equipment or staff to do this themselves). I spoke with our dentist a little bit this evening but he wasn't sure that he could actually do anything (or see much) but he's certainly willing to take a look.

Antibiotics by IV started around 5pm and he received a dose of antihistamines shortly after. We're hoping that one of these will start to show some reduction in swelling and pain.

Aidan slept most of the evening (probably due to the medication) but woke up a couple times to greet visitors. A big thanks goes out to Doug and Linda who drove all the way in from Aldergrove to see him! Brett also came by (happy birthday!) as did Austin and Alma. Thanks to everyone who's called. Thanks to Brian and Elaine for taking Austin for the night and thanks to Alma for helping organize the kids' stuff as always!

first post

Note: this note was first sent out to some family and friends by gmail.

Hi there,

I just wanted to give everyone an update on what's happening here. On
boxing day we noticed that Aidan's upper lip was quite swollen w/out
an apparent cause. He also had a low fever that night. The Dr. at the
walk-in clinic thought he had a basic infection that would take care
of themselves. These symptoms have not gone away. Yesterday I noticed
that his cheeks were now swollen as well. I took him to our family Dr.
this morning but she wasn't able to pin it on anything (none of the
symptoms matched anything she new). She put in a call to the
pediatrician at Lions Gate Hospital and he asked that we bring Aidan
in for an exam.

The basic physical checks by the pediatrician didn't result in
anything conclusive either but he felt that an infection might be at
the top of the list though he wasn't ruling out other possibilities
like allergies, a kidney problem or even some immune system issue.
He's put Aidan on IV antibiotics (infections in the face can't be let
to run their course as they can lead to other more serious problems)
and is performing many blood and urine tests. This means that Aidan
will have to stay in the hospital under observation (and on IV) for at
least one night.

Carla left work early to join us and is with him at the hospital now.
I'm going to catchup on a bit of sleep right now as I'll be with him
overnight at the hospital.

Carla will follow up with an update when she comes home this evening.