Good Days/Bad Days

[Guest guest]

Hello All:

Caitlin had a bad morning Wednesday. She was limping with the back of her

left knee hurting. She didn't eat much for lunch and complained of being dizzy.

Then the early part of the afternoon she was feeling better and walking

without limping. I am wondering if the steroids kicked in and helped her. Do

steroids work that fast? Do they lose their effectiveness in-between doses like

Tylenol, etc.? Which would explain why she felt better in the early part of

the afternoon.

Yesterday she was up on her own. She wanted to go out for lunch. She got

dressed on her own, changed her earrings, brush her hair, put her hair up in a

clip and put on her shoes and socks. She has not done this in weeks. She

couldn't care less what she looked like. She looked great. No complaints of

anything hurting, etc. We went to lunch, she laughed and ate almost everything

on

her plate. She was up most of the day (sitting or laying in her bed). I had

to tell her to rest (I was concerned she would wear herself out) and she did

a little bit. I thought maybe this will be the start of a healthy, pain free

year. WRONG........

Today she wakes me up crying from her room:( Everything is hurting she says

and her throat is sore (this appears to have started with an undiagnosed strep

infection, so you can understand that sick feeling in my stomach when hearing

her throat hurts). I give her her Cefzil and check her temp. It's 101.6

(under the arm, so it's 102.6). I call the pediatrician (rheumy is out of town)

and they say they can see her and strep test her at 11:50. I go and give her

her steroid and check her temp again, it's now 101.7 (under arm). She says

she had nightmares last night and is scared. She calms down and starts to watch

a DVD. I know that you aren't supposed to get Strep while on Cefzil, but I

am sick with worry. I check her temp again and it is now 102.5 (under her

arm). I am now in panic mode:( I call the rheumy office even though her

pediatric rheumy is out of town. I want their advice too. I want a blood strep

test

done too. They suggest the pediatrician add the ASO to the labs on Monday,

but they can't because we are seeing the peds today. So I am now in the middle

and tell the peds office. Thankfully, they agree to write the order for

Monday. I know (the rheumy's office person and I talked about it) that with a

strep positive in the blood it could still be there from the initial infection,

but the numbers can change too. I don't care, I want the test added. She's

getting blood drawn anyway, why not test that too to be on the safe side. The

peds think she looks good. Of course, she does, it's been a couple of hours now

and apparently the steroids and Motrin are kicking in, thankfully. Oh, I

checked with the rheumy office to make sure I could give her Motrin on top of

the

other meds. Her temperature is now at 97.0 (under the arm).

I just wish and pray that they can figure out what's going on with Caitlin.

I know we shouldn't, but I question why? Why didn't they catch this damn

strep to begin with? How in the heck am I to keep her from getting it again

when

she is out and about in the world again and on steroids, especially when she

exhibited no symptoms until it was gone into her blood already. It's a roller

coaster ride!

Thanks for listening.

Take care.

Patty