What a difference a day makes...

May 20, 2010

Yesterday afternoon while out shopping I took Benjamin out of the stroller so he could walk a bit. I noticed he felt warm. We were on our way back to the hotel at that point and I took his temp as soon as we arrived, but I already knew from pressing my lips to his forehead that he was cookin' pretty hot. Gave him some tylenol and juice. He took a nap. We went to dinner with our new friends Tracy and Jeremiah and little Phillips. Motrin had been snatched off the shelf in Bartow a few days before we left home and I had not, but Tracy had extra and shared with us so Benjamin had some Motrin with his dinner. Just before bed his temp was down a little so more tylenol and with no fight this time he was asleep pretty soon.

Jump to 4 a.m. He stirred I guess, and I sat up to find him sitting up in his crib. I reached for his forehead and could feel the heat from him before I ever made contact. I gave him some tylenol and turned for some juice when I heard a strange noise. He was having a febrile seizure. Terrifying to say the least. I called out to Dale to get Yisha, our CCAI local rep, a few doors down. She was there in minutes and immediately grabbed his head and pressed VERY HARD with her thumb nail just under his nose. She has had medical training and acupuncture training and said she was pressing his pressure point there. He started to cry and come out of his listless state almost immediately. It hurt me to watch it, though. She called for ice and started helping us get his fever down. (I thought the "new" way was cool, not freezing compress, but what do I know? There are definately differences in Eastern and Western methods of medicine and when in Rome...besides, I was pretty much beside myself seeing Benjamin in this state). Yisha informed me that there were no doctors at the hospital at this hour and we would take him at 8:00. So Dale took over changing out the compresses every few minutes and getting him to drink as much as possible while I slept to get ready for the hospital visit.

A few minutes before 8:00 when I was getting ready to take Benjamin to meet Yisha for the hospital trip he started seizing again. This time was worse than the first, but I grabbed his head and pressed that pressure point as hard as I could and he came out of the seizure much quicker this time. Dale went for Yisha. Another family in our group, Dave and Kathy, offered to keep Abigail and Olivia with them so Dale could go with us to the hospital. They were a God-send.

The hospital visit was something out of a movie...from the 1930s. The process was so different from what we're used to and thank God we had Yisha to navigate for us. We first had to pay 200 RMB for a registration card, then up two floors to the pediatric ward. We didn't sit in a waiting room. We barged right in to the doctor behind another woman with her baby in her arms. Yisha said something to this woman and she went and sat down, letting us go first. I didn't realize until later that this was the doctor sitting at the desk. I thought perhaps she was a nurse or receptionist. After a quick exam the doctor ordered a blood test. Down one flight we went on the escalator into a dimly lit hallway where we shoved Ben's arm under a glass where a lab tech took his blood. Then back to the doctor's room. She ordered some meds for the fever and infection causing it. Yisha told Dale to sit with Benjamin while she and I went downstairs to fetch the meds. At the "pharmacy" window we were told to add more money to the card, so a mad dash back to the registration window where we had purchased the card to begin with, another 200 RMB. (For those of you who don't know, the exchange rate is 1 US : 6.8 RMB currently, so it wasn't much, really). We retrieved the meds from the pharmacy, another dimly lit room, no refrigeration, where all kinds of bottles and vials were organized in metal cabinets.

Then we were back up to get Dale and Benjamin and take him to the "infusion area." There we gave our card over once again, and were told once again to go get more money on the card! I'm thinking at this poing, "can't you just treat my baby and let me pay for it all at once in the end for heaven's sake!? Yisha and I flew back downstairs to add more money to the card while Benjamin just got hotter and hotter. Back upstairs to the infustion area to pay with the card and then wait for his turn. Yisha disappeared for a moment and then miraculously we were called. We went into a very small room that had two small "tables" where two nurses were stationed and two babies at a time could receive an IV. Our nurse started to hunt for a vein. And hunt and hunt. Then she started tapping on him. My cousin Kristie, (a very good nurse who had planned to travel with us but her jerk boss wouldn't give her the time off) has told me before that if a nurse starts tapping on you they don't know what they're doing. So it's just gets better and better, right? After failing to find a vein in his hands she moved to his forehead with a razor. She shaved an area and was just getting ready to insert the IV when he went into yet another seizure. She dropped the needle and pressed him hard under his nose the same way Yisha had done. This was his worse one yet, and one that could have been avoided if we could have gotten his fever down sooner. Fear and anger welled up in me and I nearly started to cry, but was able to hold it off for Benjamin and pray while the nurses tag-teamed him and got the IV needle in FINALLY. Then they sent up out to the waiting area again for the IV to run it's course. Yisha asserted her authority once again and was able to get us one of the IV stands to take with us. Many parents were standing over their children holding the IV solutions over their heads the entire time. Our stand had two sides so we shared with another family.

After what seemed an eternity and a few hiccups the medicine was finally in Benjamin's hot little body and we were on our way back to the hotel. There he slept for most of the day except for about an hour when he woke and I was able to get him to take some motrin, eat a few sweet potato chips and drink some watered-down Sprite. Dale took the girls to a local park with Dave and Kathy and their two girls and they had a blast while Benjamin and I got a nap. During this time Yisha was in touch with Pingdingshan SWI to find out if Benjamin has a history of seizures. I told her I had noticed another shaved spot on his forehead on Monday when they handed him to me, but had not thought much about it. Now I wonder if the haircut he received a few days before we came to China was not an effort to cover that up. Yisha came back to tell me that Benjamin is supposedly allergic to the DTP vaccine, that he will run a high fever and have a seizure if he gets it. She pressed further and found that he has a seizure anytime he runs a fever over 37.5 degrees Celcius, whatever that heck that converts to in Farenheit?!!

So, the plan? Benjamin is not to get a high fever. Part 2 of the plan? Anyone know where our pediatrician, Dr. C lives? Egg his house for me, will ya? He refused to give us antibiotics to bring with us in case they were needed, even though I explained I would call him before administering if we found they were needed. When they gave Benjamin to us on Monday he had a runny nose, a GREEN runny nose. I would have started antiBs Monday if I had had them. On Tuesday he seemed better, less runny nose, no fever until the afternoon, so I didn't ask for a trip to the doctor on Tuesday. If Dr. Shah had been our doctor we would have had the meds needed to avoid this illness getting so out of hand so quickly and I will bend Dr. C's ear when we get home. I know that so many drs. refuse to do what I had asked of him, but in my opinion it was just plain ignorance on his part. In the effort to "protect" Benjamin from my playing doctor we had to expose him to God only knows what at the hospital today, sights I can tell you about later since my time is limited right now.

The bright side? It's obvious to me that Benjamin's mother gave him up out of love. The payment process for treatment was mind-boggling, and if you didn't have the money you didn't get the treatment. Benjamin was left in the waiting area of a hospital, much like the one we visited today. That tells me all the more that she left him to be found where he could receive treatment, not in a field or the market, not on the street. I can tell him that one day.

Another bright side? The green-eyed monster lost a little bit of stature today. She told me she's not so jealous of him anymore. She was worried about him and nearly cried when she heard he got "shot in the head," as she recounted it to Abigail. She's been very loving toward him the whole time, just a bit over-clingy toward Dale and I until this happened. She's feeling more secure again.

Please continue to pray for us while we get Benjamin over whatever infection he has in his little body. We have to go back to the hospital in the morning for another IV treatment. We'll be getting up during the night to check his temp and administer meds as needed to prevent another seizure. Then tomorrow afternoon we fly to Guangzhou for our final week in China.

Love to all!

Comments From Friends and Family:


*99.5 fahrenheit is what to watch for! What a nasty little turn your trip has taken. Hopefully Benjamin is on the road to recovery and you can finish out your trip in style. Be safe and keep us updated. Hugs to all!
Posted by: Cynthia Kuhlman on May 20, 2010 at 08:03 A.M.

*Oh my word!!! Definetly praying for ya'll!! Hope Benjamin feels better soon. Glad to hear the girls are adjusting well. Praise the Lord you'll be home soon. Hope you have a good rest of the trip. Be safe!
Keturah
Posted by: Keturah on May 20, 2010 at 08:26 A.M.

*Hospital is always an awful place to go.
It seems Benjamin "gets along well with IV".
Definately,i can see Olivia being the new victim of Benjamin.
Hope Ben feel better and we will be praying for you all.
Posted by: Minqi and Rhonda on May 20, 2010 at 09:02 A.M.

*Wow! Poor little guy. I don't know if you remember, but right after we returned home from China with Micah, like maybe a day or 2, he also had a febrile seizure and we took him to the emergency room and he had a CT scan. That's when they found the arachnoid cyst on his brain - totally unrelated to the seizure. We haven't had any other episodes since then. So sorry you had to endure that. We also had to go to the Dr. with Meigan in China to get her treated for scabies...yes, a visit to the hospital/Dr. office in China is quite an experience in itself. Keeping y'all in my thoughts and prayers and looking forward to seeing you soon.

Love, Rebecca
Posted by: Rebecca on May 20, 2010 at 09:32 A.M.

*i will be praying he heals quickly. i just can't imagine! i'm also praying the rest of your trip is "boring". you've had plenty of excitment thus far. too much :( hugs and love to you all.
Posted by: Shelle M. on May 20, 2010 at 10:26 A.M.

*I spend a day in the emergency room with infusions as well for our little baby Chloe in our group. It is beyond imagination. We'll swap tales when you get home. Prayers for Ben's infection making a hasty retreat and for you and Dale to get some rest. Prayers of gratitude for your new friends who watched Abigail and Olivia (although I think they probably got the better end of the deal.) Much love and support to you all until we can get you back on US soil...
Posted by: Teresa on May 20, 2010 at 12:28 P.M.

That is C-R-A-Z-Y!! Our prayers are 12 hours behind, but God is always on time. Amazing isn't it!! Maybe you can get some better follow-up care when you get to your next destination. Although somehow it matches what we know of other countries we have visited ... their local people say they go to the hospitals to die. (sorry for the morbidity)
Little Benjamin is soooo blessed to be a part of your family and have a real chance for love and health, provided "Obamacare" doesn't interfere. (sorry for the politicizing this time) Love to all!
Posted by: Janice Durrance on May 20, 2010 at 04:27 P.M.

I forgot to mention that Bekah mentioned Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf in her paperwork as one of her favorite shows. We didn't get to watch it while in China but love seeing the characters in your photos. Love you!
Posted by: Teresa on May 20, 2010 at 05:25 P.M.

Now I see the lollypop.
They are the characters from cartoon. The wolf is just Unlucky as Tom in 'Tom and Jerry'.
=P
Posted by: Minqi and Rhoda on May 20, 2010 at 05:46 P.M.

Wew!! It can only get better from here right? Will be praying for little Benjamin and all of you as you enjoy the last week in China. Looking forward to seeing you at home.
Posted by: Susan Evans on May 20, 2010 at 05:50 P.M.