Hospitalization

The move went well and things are slowly getting back to normal. On Saturday morning however, I noticed a 3 x 3 inch spot on the top of Dear Son's foot that seemed unusual. By the afternoon, the red spot had spread, become extremely hot to the touch (even after icing), swelling had increased and brusing appeared on Dear Son's foot. I made a call and was instructed to bring him to the emergency room at Big Academic Medical Center.

We went to the ER and once the Attending Physician saw his foot, he said he would most likely admit Dear Son to the hospital. They started an IV, drew some blood for labs and did a blood culture. He was admitted that evening and started on IV antibiotics.

On Sunday, they continued the IV antibiotics and diagnosed him with Cellulitis, a somewhat common bacterial infection that typically presents through an open cut however Dear Son didn't have any. (All photos were taken on Sunday.)

By the afternoon, around 3:30 p.m. the foot had started to look better however at 5:30 p.m., just two hours later, the redness had spread over his ankle, the bruising had expanded and the swelling had increased. I contacted the Pediatric Attending and they consulted with the Orthopedic Surgeon. The Peds Group started a second IV antibiotic however the foot never improved.

Today, Orthopedics recommeded an ultrasound of his foot. Due to Dear Son's VNS, they opted for an ultrasound versus an MRI. The ultrasound was done to determine if there was pus or fluid beneath the skin. (Typically, for this type of infection, there is fluid or pus or whatever beneath the skin and draining of this fluid helps resolve the infection.) In Dear Son's case however, the ultrasound showed only swelling and no pus or fluid beneath the skin. They came back this afternoon and decided to give another dose of the second IV antibiotic to see if that might help. Tomorrow the Orthopedic Surgeon may do an exploratory surgery to find the source of this infection.

It's really a fluky thing however I am concerned. I do not like the fact that it is not getting better and his foot has now swelling even more and is quite tall. I am also uncomfortable with the bruising since he did not injure his foot in any way. He does not have a fever, which is good however things aren't really improving. We will be there a few more day until they get this figured out and resolved.