Samuel Update :-(

This is Samuel last night. He slept in my bed and got up every 15-30 minutes all night long. He had severe diarrhea and nausea. When he was in the bed sleeping he was kicking his legs and groaning in pain. This pic is one of his rare peaceful moments last night...




Okay, after that long night of pain I KNEW Samuel had to go back to the doctor today. But before I get into that, let me catch you up on how this transpired.

About a month ago, Samuel went to the ER and tested positive for Strep. After 10 days of Amox he was still very sickly. I took him back to the ER and low and behold, he tested positive again. So the ER gave him Clindamyacin (sp?). That is when everything went wrong.

I BEGGED for Augmentin, since I know it works for Samuel. The doc insisted on the Clin, saying it was powerful and would kick it for good. About three days into the meds he started getting severe belly pain. So I took him off. Yeah yeah yeah, I know you aren't supposed to do that...but I am so glad I did now.

Two days after I took him off he got the worse diarrhea he has ever had. At that point he weighed 98 pounds. He would go to the bathroom two times every hour. I rushed him to the ER and they ran IVs for dehydration, and also took blood and stool samples. Other that the dehydration the labs were good. The doc said he probably caught a virus.

So I waited and I waited and I waited. I continued to watch him get worse. I got more aggarvated by the day.

Then last night he came in here in so much pain, he begged to sleep in my bed. Throughout the night he tossed and turned and moaned. It was the worse thing ever. Watching you child go through such a horrific pain is heartbreaking. I couldn't sleep all night. By this time he had red and black blood in his stool. I knew this was no virus.

I ended up calling his doc in the middle of the night to ask what I could give him to relieve some of the pain...he said Imodium. I had no idea how wrong that answer would be.

At 8:30 am when his doc's office opened I called for an appointment. They got me in at 11:30, Samuel cried and said he could not wait that long. :-( But we had to.

When we got there I told the doc the story from beginning to end....and almost immediately she said he had C Diff. Of course, I had never heard of this, so I had to get schooled in it. She thinks his first stool sample at the ER had a false negative. She said that Clin is notorious for causing C Diff in older patients. It is rare in kids, but Samuel likes to be different.

After a two hour doc appointment, and thorough examination, and blood work, urinalysis, another stool sample, and bp checks....the doc said she would bet her life it is C Diff. He has EVERY symptom of it. Plus, he is now down to 88 pounds. Since the results to C Diff takes 3 days and he is rapidly losing weight, she started treatment now. I am so mad that anyone ever gave him an antibiotic that can cause such a painful, long-term, disease. I just want to slap stupid people. But, that is par for the course at Childrens I suppose!

Even though the doc knew what he had, she said he still looked so bad that she wanted him to go to the ER and have IVs run, because once again he was severely dehydrated. Both the ER and the doc couldn't decide on whether or not to keep him overnight, I am just so thankful we got to go home.

Samuel has been trying to drink faithfully, but it causes him a great deal of pain. But I must say, he is being very brave, because pain that horrific is not easy to deal with. :-(

Here is a pic of him in the ER with his IVs...



Also, for those of you who are clueless about C Diff, as I was...here are a few links to somewhat fill you in on the disease...

C DIFF Link 1

C DIFF Link 2