4 days

by: Katrina Braxton

My son Izaiah was your average 6 year old boy, who loved to play basketball, ride his bike, etc.. He does have asthma and allergies, but that never stopped him from being a no normal kid. Until May 22,2011 the day everything changed.

Day 1:

On this beautiful Sunday, Izaiah woke up complaining his feet were hurting, and there was a rash. I remember telling him your ok you know your allergic to the grass. Of course no parent is going to think that much into a rash especially when you know your child is allergic to grass. As the day went on I noticed that he wouldn’t walk, and when he did he walked with his head down. That’s when I knew that something wasn’t right I took his temperature 104. I immediately started him on Motrin. Come night time he still had a fever and the rash was now on his legs.

The first trip to the hospital was the night of the 22. I can remember like it was yesterday the doctor looked at me and said your son is having an allergic reaction to something, lets put him on Benadryl and keep giving him on the Motrin. So I did..

Day 2:

We ended up staying up all night. He kept saying his whole body hurt and this 104 fever wasn’t going down. His eyes were blood red and the rash from head to toe come morning. He looked so miserable. All I kept thinking was what kind of reaction is this. I rushed him back to the hospital but this time it was a different one. I told them what the first doctor said and what had happened from the beginning. They did his vitals and his heart rate was up and so was his blood pressure. The doctor came in the room and said something is defiantly not right. That’s when he said I think he may have Kawasaki’s disease, or Rocky Mountain Fever. They both have similar symptoms. We were told to take him home and follow up with his pediatrician the next day. If its Kawasaki’s he will get more symptoms but they wont treat him till day 5 of fever. I couldn’t believe they just sent us home. The day turned into night and all I could do is stare at him to make sure he was still breathing. I kept promising him that tomorrow we are getting some true answers.

Day 3:

We made it to the pediatricians office as soon as they opened. They once again checked his vital and there was no change. I remember the doctor coming in the room and he did his evaluation. Then looked at as and said well he has a rash, fever for going on three days, red eye, heart rate is up , but if its Kawasaki’s they still wont treat you till day 5 of fever. We were told to take him to Portsmouth Naval hospital they were the only base that could treat him once he had a fever the five days. I was so mad that they still weren’t sure what was going on and everyone kept sending us home, How could they send someone home when they were that bad off and what in the world is this stupid Kawasaki’s. Of course I did what every normal parent would do I went home and looked up as much information as I could about it. Of course nothing made since how did he get this if that’s truly what it was.

Day 4:

After being up for 72 hours now watching my poor baby just waste away, I had to do something. Back to the hospital we went and this time we went straight to the hospital I was told would be able to help us. The 45 min. drive seemed like forever. When we got to the hospital they got him right back. They did EKG, ECHO, spinal tap, x-rays, blood work. They did so many test it just didn’t seem like they should still be poking him. This strange man walked into are room and introduced him self to us he was a cardiologist my heart sunk to the floor. What is going on why is he in here. He had to have the wrong room. He began to say I am going to be with you during your stay here in the hospital your sons heart is enlarged, he has a murmur, and has aneurisms. He needs to get to the PICU immediately. There they will tell you what’s going on.

Once we got to the PICU we were told we are still not 100% positive what’s going on we have some ideas but we need to be sure. All we do know is your sons heart needs help. That night is when they came in with a bunch of papers saying your son needs this treatment now and there of course are side effects so you need to sign these paper. I started reading and right there in big bold letter there it said KAWASKIS disease. Of course we are thinking this a joke and eventually they will tell us the truth. That night he started IVIG, and six aspirin every six hours. blood work around the clock. His machines kept going off since his heart rate was over 200 bmp.

After two rounds of IVIG and a ton of aspirin we were send home. He remained on aspirin for 2 years. now he gets regular checks from the cardiologist.

My son Izaiah was your average 6 year old boy, who loved to play basketball, ride his bike, etc.. He does have asthma and allergies, but that never stopped him from being a no normal kid. Until May 22,2011 the day everything changed.

Day 1:

On this beautiful Sunday, Izaiah woke up complaining his feet were hurting, and there was a rash. I remember telling him your ok you know your allergic to the grass. Of course no parent is going to think that much into a rash especially when you know your child is allergic to grass. As the day went on I noticed that he wouldn’t walk, and when he did he walked with his head down. That’s when I knew that something wasn’t right I took his temperature 104. I immediately started him on Motrin. Come night time he still had a fever and the rash was now on his legs.

The first trip to the hospital was the night of the 22. I can remember like it was yesterday the doctor looked at me and said your son is having an allergic reaction to something, lets put him on Benadryl and keep giving him the Motrin. So I did..

Day 2:

We ended up staying up all night. He kept saying his whole body hurt and this 104 fever wasn’t going down. His eyes were blood red and the rash from head to toe come morning. He looked so miserable. All I kept thinking was what kind of reaction is this. I rushed him back to the hospital but this time it was a different one. I told them what the first doctor said and what had happened from the beginning. They did his vitals and his heart rate was up and so was his blood pressure. The doctor came in the room and said something is defiantly not right. That’s when he said I think he may have Kawasaki’s disease, or Rocky Mountain Fever. They both have similar symptoms. We were told to take him home and follow up with his pediatrician the next day. If its Kawasaki’s he will get more symptoms but they wont treat him till day 5 of fever. I couldn’t believe they just sent us home. The day turned into night and all I could do is stare at him to make sure he was still breathing. I kept promising him that tomorrow we are getting some true answers.

Day 3:

We made it to the pediatricians office as soon as they opened. They once again checked his vital and there was no change. I remember the doctor coming in the room and he did his evaluation. Then looked at as and said well he has a rash, fever for going on three days, red eye, heart rate is up , but if its Kawasaki’s they still wont treat you till day 5 of fever. We were told to take him to Portsmouth Naval hospital they were the only base that could treat him once he had a fever the five days. I was so mad that they still weren’t sure what was going on and everyone kept sending us home, How could they send someone home when they were that bad off and what in the world is this stupid Kawasaki’s. Of course I did what every normal parent would do I went home and looked up as much information as I could about it. Of course nothing made since how did he get this if that’s truly what it was.

Day 4:

After being up for 72 hours now watching my poor baby just waste away, I had to do something. Back to the hospital we went and this time we went straight to the hospital I was told would be able to help us. The 45 min. drive seemed like forever. When we got to the hospital they got him right back. They did EKG, ECHO, spinal tap, x-rays, blood work. They did so many test it just didn’t seem like they should still be poking him. This strange man walked into are room and introduced him self to us he was a cardiologist my heart sunk to the floor. What is going on why is he in here. He had to have the wrong room. He began to say I am going to be with you during your stay here in the hospital your sons heart is enlarged, he has a murmur, and has aneurisms. He needs to get to the PICU immediately. There they will tell you what’s going on.

Once we got to the PICU we were told we are still not 100% positive what’s going on we have some ideas but we need to be sure. All we do know is your sons heart needs help. That night is when they came in with a bunch of papers saying your son needs this treatment now and there of course are side effects so you need to sign these paper. I started reading and right there in big bold letter there it said KAWASKIS disease. Of course we are thinking this a joke and eventually they will tell us the truth. That night he started IVIG, and six aspirin every six hours. blood work around the clock. His machines kept going off since his heart rate was over 200 bmp.

After a week stay in the hospital and two rounds of IVIG. He was sent home on aspirin. He remained on it for 2 years, and now is a 10 year old boy striving in school and loves life.