Logan's Hospital Trip Part 1 (2007)

**These posts are from exactly 4 years ago**

     Well, (as you all know) Logan is out of the hospital.  It was definitely an experience.  My heart goes out to all of the little children in hospitals and their loved ones who have to see them there.  It is so spiritually, emotionally, and physically draining.  We have been out of town since Logan's release and I was unable to get on the computer to give you all an update.  I had my sister Jessica post a bulletin for me on Wed. night.  So, for those of you are unsure as to what happened, I'll give you a full update. On Tuesday I noticed a spot on Logan's thigh that looked like an ingrown hair (a tiny pimple-like mark).  By Wednesday it had grown slightly, but not to the point in which I would be overly concerned.  Wednesday night however it really started to hurt Logan and he cried much of the night - especially when the sheets would touch the spot.  Thursday morning I got us up extra early and called the doctor hoping we could get in at opening time (we live 1/4 mile away), but as it turned out, they weren't able to see us until the afternoon.  As the day went on, the spot grew, and continued to be warm to the touch with hardness at the center.  

     When we finally made it to the doctor, he informed me that the spot was a boil and there was a possibility Logan would need to be hospitalized.  I didn't see that one coming! He told me that the boil was most likely MRSA (I had only heard of it the day before) and that it could be very dangerous.  So, we went home and Logan took the antibiotics, did the warm compresses religiously, and brought him back the next afternoon as prescribed.      At the following visit, being completely naive (possibly just stupid) I brought both boys with me to a nightmare appointment.  The spot had grown slightly, so the doctor told me again that we might have to go the hospital, but he wanted to "try" something first.  He grabbed some tools out of this large white bucket (that a nurse brought in) and told me to give Logan a hug because he might be a little uncomfortable.  So, still unaware myself of what exactly was about to happen, I give my little guy a big bear hug. The doctor pulled out a scalpel (I know this for a fact because I became very familiar with scalpels while dissecting a cat in high school) he grabbed a flippin scalpel, put on gloves, and started to poke a hole in Logan's leg where the "mark" was. Let me clarify something - Logan had previously cried when a thin sheet touched his leg, so imagine the pain he felt when the doober doctor poked a hole in his boil. Never in my life (and never again do I want to) hear my sweet baby cry the way he did in that office. It was sickening to watch and even more sickening to know that I was the one holding him down and enabling the doctor to do this. After the doctor poked a couple of openings in the boil he began to squeeze it.  I won't go in to detail about what was expressed from Logan's leg, but I will say that I was dumbfounded.  And I will also say that the doctor proceeded to squeeze and squeeze, until Logan came very close to passing out from the pain. His eyes started to roll back in his head and he was very pale. It was horrifying to watch. Logan is 2, and he's a pretty darn tough 2 yr old, but I guarantee I would have passed out had it been me on the table. The experience was absolutely traumatic. As I held Logan, feeling very close to shoving the doctor out the door, I remembered that my Cameron was in the room to, and might need some consoling as well. I looked at him, standing with his back to us near the door, and I noticed that his little shoulders were shaking (he was sobbing).  It was heartbreaking to seem him so upset by this.  It was also heartbreaking to know that Logan probably thought that his mommy didn't protect him from this terrible pain.  It took him a full 10 minutes to stop crying and 20 more for the tremors in his leg to stop.     

  We were then sent home again, to do all of the same things (that didn't work before).  The next morning I wasn't very hopeful because Logan's leg was looking a little worse, so I had to bring him back in to the doctor office, only to find out he would need to be admitted to the hospital.  Saturday at noon he was admitted, and they weren't able to get him started on his IV antibiotics until almost 5.  I'll tell you why in just a second.  :/  But first, the reason Logan had to be hospitalized was because the infection was growing at a very rapid rate, and would very likely enter his blood stream. MRSA doesn't respond well to most antibiotics, therefore he needed to be put on Vancomycin. It is possibly the most powerful antibiotic drug used and can enter the system very fast.             

     Saturday at noon he was admitted, and they weren't able to get him started on his IV antibiotics until almost 5.  I'll tell you why in just a second.  :/  But first, the reason Logan had to be hospitalized was because the infection was growing at a very rapid rate, and would very likely enter his blood stream. MRSA doesn't respond well to most antibiotics, therefore he needed to be put on Vancomycin. It is possibly the most powerful antibiotic drug used and can enter the system very fast. Vancomycin - appropriately nicknamed the King of Antibiotics, and The Drug of Last Resort, was being used on MY 2 year old. The day was only looking more grim after it took the nurses 5 times, FIVE TIMES!! to get Logan's IV in. It took 7 of us to hold him down, and that included my husband, Mark.  It took 3 hours, 3 painful, sweaty, dreadful hours to get the IV in. 4 different nurses made the attempt, and because there was a high possibility he would need surgery, he wasn't allowed to eat or drink, which caused him to be dehydrated, which then caused his veins to collapse. I was sick of them putting my baby through so much pain...