Saturday, January 21, 2012

A health update on Gianna

If you follow this blog, or follow me on Facebook I'm sure you've heard me mention that my little Coco has been sick for quite a while.  


On Thursday night around 10:30 she cried out "Ow, mommy, ow!" I ran into her room and her stomach was distended unlike anything I'd ever seen. It looked like there were red stretch marks on her tummy and it was hard as a rock. She was hunched down in pain, and holding onto her tummy. I called the after hours advice line and they told me to get her into the ER immediately. Tony was working, but he left and met me there. We were at our local hospital where they ran all sorts of tests and x-rays on her. 


The only thing that would keep her (somewhat) happy in the ER was watching YouTube videos of puppies and kittens.

Right after she was hooked up to an IV


On her x-ray the ER doctor saw lots of pockets of air (extreme gas) and also thought there might be a blockage in her intestines. Around 3:30 am he decided that we needed to be transferred to UCSF via ambulance. UCSF has a world-renowned children's medical team and they wanted us there. 

On her way to UCSF, in the ambulance.


We arrived around 5am and were put in the children's critical care unit. They monitored her for hours, and around noon on Friday they moved us to the normal children's ward. (Much more cheerful-looking than the critical care unit.) 

Poor Coco got only two hours of sleep Thursday night, and well into Friday. Once my mom got to the hospital late Friday afternoon she fell asleep within minutes. My mom has the magic touch.


After lots of monitoring, iv's, blood work, stool samples and very little eating for Coco they decided that we could go home around 5:30 pm. 


The diagnosis (for now) is "post viral gastro". Basically since she was so sick for so long (over three weeks of vomiting and diarrhea around the clock) that her gut/intestines got exhausted and decided to slow way down. Therefore things aren't moving through her at the rate they normally would. We still don't know what caused her to get so sick for so long, and are waiting on one final lab result that could take up to a week to get back.


We had a follow-up doctor's appointment this morning. We are able to feed Gianna very, very small portions of foods hourly. We'll have another follow-up appointment in a few days to determine whether or not she needs further testing and imaging done with a GI specialist, as at this point the fear is that her intestines could be twisting. She's making good progress (had a solid poop - her first solid poop in almost a month!) and the vomiting has stopped. We're praying hard that her doctor will be confident that it's not the intestines twisting (there wasn't any evidence of that on the first x-ray) and that she was just being overly cautious in even thinking that it could be a possibility. Coco's in pretty good spirits today, and is hungry! All she wants to do is eat, eat, eat! It's hard to let her have just a little bit of food, but we know it's for the best. 


Anyways, thank you again for your prayers. Please keep them coming!

20 comments:

Bree said...

Oh no I pray that they give good news!

scargosun said...

Heather - positive thoughts to you and the little one hoping things will continue to get better. She looked so scared in the ambulance shot. :( Hugs coming your way!

Admin said...

I'm so glad to hear CoCo is doing much better. Still praying for her and your family. God bless <3

Denissa said...

I'm so sorry you guys are going through this!! Poor Coco! I'm praying for all you guys, wish I lived closer so I could bring you dinner :)
Hang in there. Praise God she's home and hungry! Xoxo

grey rose (they/them) said...

oh, sweet friend. praying for sure. so sorry for your sweet girl.
sending hugs! hope y'all can rest this weekend.
love you xo

Polka Dot Moon said...

Glad shes home and feeling a bit better! Been thinking of you guys and sending lots of prayers!!

Gina said...

Oh my gosh, so scary. There's no way it could be a food allergy or intolerance, right? I know it sounds extreme but Logan vomited and had diarrhea daily for months and months before we figured out what was going on with him.

Also, we give our boys (17 months and 4 and 1/2) daily chewable probiotics. That might help with preventing this from happening again and also helping her recover. I swear by them. If you want info on the brand we use, etc., let me know.

I'll keep you all in my prayers.

{cuppakim} said...

so glad that things are looking better, miss coco got some sleep, and you guys are at home.
my heart broke reading your updates. i hope and pray that she is well on the road to recovery.
<3 you guys!

joen said...

My prayers are certainly with you...

Jeannett said...

SO glad she is doing better and that so far, it's nothing too crazy! Kids are stressful!!! Hang in there mama!

Amy said...

So glad she is home and recovering...I do not like to see hospital bracelets especially on the itty bitty ones! Glad it was a short stay. That little scared face of hers in the ambulance breaks my heart! ;-( Only smiles from here on out! XO

Unknown said...

Oh, breaks my heart! Poor little one! Hope its good news!

BrandiB said...

Praying for your family :( Glad you are all back at home at least and she's starting to feel better

Anonymous said...

Sending good thoughts your way. Hoping for a speedy recovery <3

Mique (as in Mickey) said...

Awww poor sweet Coco & poor momma!! I'm so sorry that your cute girl got SO sick. Nothing is worse than that. Thinking of you and her- hoping they figure out for sure what is going on. Hang in the Heather. xoxoxo

Mique (as in Mickey) said...

Awww poor sweet Coco & poor momma! There's nothing worse than having a sick little one. Thinking of you and your cute family- hope they find out what's really going on. Hang in there Heather! xoxo

Object of Maya*ffection said...

Poor baby! Prayers to G!

Anonymous said...

Oh, sweet girl. We often watch puppy and kitty videos on my iPhone while at the doctor's office. :) I hope you're all back to 100% ASAP!

Also, I think I tweeted you in my sleepless stupor the other night, midst this whole ordeal, about nail polish. Forgive that tweet. I wasn't thinking. :(

Tara said...

these pictures break my heart. i am so glad prayers were answered and she is better!! it was so great to see you guys on sunday!! <333

Anonymous said...

oh honey, praying for your daughter, you and your family!

 

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