Staph Infection, Son Hospitalized - anyone been through?

[ChesapeakeTechie]

We are currently in the Pediatric ER, have been here since Friday afternoon - our son (7) has been diagnosed with the staph infection in his blood and urine and we're waiting for some more results on the exact strain.
Some background - my wife and I were in FL until Wed, my grandfather passed away a week ago at 91. Wed morning her parents called to let us know our son wasn't feeling well, throwing up with a fever. We take the first flight back possible. That night he's still sick with temps ranging from 101 - 104. Thursday he's still not feeling well and not able to keep anything down.
Friday morning my wife takes him to the pediatrician who orders an ultrasound as his belly was tender to the touch. I take him to the ultrasound and during that time the pediatricians office calls me and asks that I take him to the ER as he may be dehydrated and his fever wasn't going down.
Friday afternoon we check into the Pediatric ER. The staff is great, they have a bit of trouble getting the IV in due to dehydration but they use some innovative techniques including strapping a buzzing ladybug to his arm with a cold back to distract him. A CT scan is ordered of his abdomen to rule out appendicitis. He starts getting fluids and antibiotics (ceftriaxone) and we wait for the results of the CT scan. Friday night his fever continues to range from 102 - 104. Tylenol and Motrin bring it down to 99 for a short time, then it would spike back up. Urine is dark in color.
The CT scan shows no issues with the appendix, liver, or pancreas, but does show an infected left kidney. Saturday morning the urologist comes to talk with us and explains that the scan shows no obstructions and that the kidney infection was caused by either blood or urine pathogens, which are still being cultured. The pediatrician on call adds an additional antibiotic (ampicillin) explaining that is often used to treat pediatric UTIs. Our son starts to perk up by mid-afternoon, asking to eat some Goldfish. He had not eaten any sold foods since Wed. An additional test is ordered to watch the flow of fluids through his bladder and kidneys. Saturday night he is feeling a bit better, playing on the iPad and watching TV. His temps are around 100 - 102.
Sunday morning the flow test is completed and the pediatrician and the radiologist came to talk with us. There is no obstruction, and the kidney is infected due to a staph infection. The cultures are being checked to determine the strain and antibiotics will be adjusted as necessary. His temps are around 98-99 and he's taking a nap right now. He's asked for solid foods today and seems to be getting his appetite back.
The urologist said that these type of infections are more common in girls that boys, so they are interested in trying to find out where the infection came from and to make sure it's not lingering in the heart, etc. He had a small cut on his leg that he got last week but the doctors said that area doesn't look infected at all. He will probably stay here another day or two and follow up with 10-14 days of antibiotics and additional echocardiograms and lab work to ensure the infection is gone.
Our son is usually very healthy, so this is pretty unusual and scary for us. We think he's getting good care and we're doing all we can to ensure we're covering all the bases.
Disney related, this year we took advantage of the DVC annual pass promo and have been lucky enough to get to WDW 5 times including for SWW which was incredible. He asked to go back again yesterday when he's better. He's got twin sisters (6) who went to the Bippity Boppity Botique for the first time in June which did an amazing job with them for their birthday.

Has anyone else been through something similar? Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[mommasita]

Sorry to hear all this..

I have read about it, but have no personal experience.. It does sound like he is getting incredibly good care... Thank goodness for Children's Hospitals.
Hope he rebounds quickly..

 

[ChesapeakeTechie]

Thanks for your well wishes. We are still here in the hospital and they are waiting for the final results from the blood culture taken on 6/22. We did receive some good news that the latest culture that was taken Sunday morning does not appear to be growing anything. The pediatric urologist will talk to us this afternoon about his kidney infection.
In the meantime our son is telling us that the hospital is "not bad" and that they bring him everything he wants including food, drink and also have good movies on TV. He's also commented that his 6 year old twin sisters aren't bugging him.
So hopefully they will release him tomorrow or Wed and we'll continue a course of antibiotics at home..thanks and we'll keep posting updates.

 

[Swissdog2010]

I had a Staph infection as a newborn, brought it home from the hospital. It was believed point of infection was a slight cut on my nose, likely from a nurse's ring in hospital nusery. That was in 1957. Lots of needles for the antibiotics. Only known lasting effect is one scar from where a boil that resulted was removed. Sounds like your son is on the mend so best of luck. We had some issues with our son at an early age, it's never easy but somehow you manage.

 

[mdvlprof]

OP -
Lots of HUGS. Keep an eye on him. Love him. Make sure he knows.

5 years ago, my then-17 year old son had staph infection that spread to his heart. Had heart surgery, but a clot vegetated to his brain. Normal active boy working on Eagle Scout - now quadriplegic, non-verbal, locked-in syndrome.

 

[kellyg403]

Hopefully you and your ds are already home and on the mend!

My son had a staph infection when he was about 10, around 1996. He had a cut on his foot that probably caused it. It caused a high fever and the right side of his face was inflamed and beet red. He had gone to bed not feeling well and in the middle of the night and come to get me he was so sick and had a terrible headache. They gave him some antibiotics and he stayed a couple days. He had to have a special cream for his face as the infection caused a skin reaction. It turned to almost leather before it went away.

Who knew that a cut on the bottom of his foot would do that? I didn't even realize he had a cut on his foot. He had stepped on something outside when he was barefoot, it didn't heal and got infected.

Good Luck to you both!

Kelly

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

How is your son doing? Hope all is well and he is on the mend! Prayers.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Wishing your special little guy a speedy recovery!!

 

[Nixie]

We had something similar happen 2 weeks ago to my oldest son. He is high functioning autistic, so normally he isn't "in tune" with his body. He has had ear infections rupture his ear drum because pain or sickness doesn't register with him. I was soo happy and proud that he came to me and showed me that "down there" was itching. We were scheduled to see the doctor the next morning, so I told him not to itch it and we would have them look at it then. I looked like just some heat rash or something like that. He came back to me later in the day complaining that it was really bothering him. The area was triple the size it was 4 hours earlier. The swelling an redness had also moved up his stomach wall. I immediately packed him into the car and off to the ER we went. He had a staph infection of the soft tissues in his abdominal wall. He was admitted and given high powered antibiotics through an IV. Luckily, the infection quickly responded to the meds. Very scary and it happened sooooo fast. He is all better now. Hope your little guy is getting better!!!!

They never did figure out how it started. The docs best guess was that maybe he had a mosquito bite that he itched.

 

[Nixie]

Thanks for your well wishes. We are still here in the hospital and they are waiting for the final results from the blood culture taken on 6/22. We did receive some good news that the latest culture that was taken Sunday morning does not appear to be growing anything. The pediatric urologist will talk to us this afternoon about his kidney infection.
In the meantime our son is telling us that the hospital is "not bad" and that they bring him everything he wants including food, drink and also have good movies on TV. He's also commented that his 6 year old twin sisters aren't bugging him.
So hopefully they will release him tomorrow or Wed and we'll continue a course of antibiotics at home..thanks and we'll keep posting updates.

Our ds loved the hospital (minus the iV and the blood draws). He got to call down and order his meal everyday, which after a little help and coaching, he loved. They brought him in whatever movies he wanted to watch as well. He said, " I am gonna really miss this." LOL

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Just out of college, I came down with a staph infection in my left foot. Two years later I was diagnosed with diabetes. They were able to treat me with aggressive shots of antibiotics outside of the hospital and thankfully it went away. Best of luck to you!

 

[nkereina]

9 years ago, my fiance was bit by a spider and the bite became infected and ended up as a staph infection. He was flown by mercy flight to a better hospital and was put into an induced coma for three week. The staph infection progressed into toxic shock syndrome which he was also treated for. The diseases attacked his heart, so he had to see a cardiologist regularly for about a year after his month long hospital stay. I can happily report that he is 100% better now, and has no lasting effects from it. Your son is in the right place. My fiance's situation was very severe and he pulled through with a full recovery.

 

[Kristian]

I can somewhat relate to your story.

In September 2012 we had just returned from a week at Disney when I noticed a bump on our DD's (then 3) leg. I thought that it was a bug bite or just a bump and didn't give it much thought until DD started complaining that it was hurting. It was hot to the touch and it was getting progressively bigger and I was unsure of what it was. I noticed that there was a small hole in the middle and that it was slowly draining a bit upon further inspection. I applied a bit of pressure to it and an ungodly amount of pus came out of it I had seen boil's online and I knew at that moment that's what it was. Two day's later, another bump was forming under her armpit that looked the same as the one on her leg had in the beginning. I took her to our doctor who then swabbed it and found that it was Staph. She had no fever but was put on antibiotics and we also took precautions with antibacterial soap and such. Two weeks after the antibiotics were completed, another one formed on her other leg This repeated over and over for the next few months and I was going crazy because while she didn't have any other symptoms minus the boils, it was such a headache. During one of her appointments they did a swab and found that the current boil was now MRSA. Of course I was distraught; however her doctor explained that MRSA was more common than people think and he referred us to a pediatric disease specialist. The PDS basically told us the same thing about MRSA being more common than people usually think and he prescribed the ointment for the nose for DD and the whole family to use for six months consecutively. We were also instructed to do bleach bath's for DD twice a week as well (with safe amounts of bleach mixed) and to also use using Dial antibacterial soap. We used Hibiclens soap as well interchangeably. This continued over the course of about 15 months and I was scared to death the entire time. We seem to have beat it for now; however I am so scared that I'll see another bump and it will turn into a boil. DD never had any other type of symptom, besides the boil's; however it didn't make me worry any less. I have no idea how she got staph, but I can't help but think that she got it sometime at Disney. Nothing at all against Disney though, germs are everywhere and it could have happened anywhere, but I think that she came into contact with it sometime on our trip unfortunately as the first boil started within a week after we got home.

I wish you the best of luck with your DS. I know that my DD's situation was no where as serious as your DS's , but I can somewhat relate. I hope everything goes well and he starts to feel better and is able to go home.