The Friday morning my dad got in, I noticed something that looked a bit more serious than diaper rash on Lauren's bottom. After some advice from a friend and suspecting that it may be a boil infected with MRSA, which is an antibiotic resistant strain of staph infection, I made an appointment with the pediatrician. She took a sample of the fluid from the boil, sent it off to the lab, and prescribed two different antibiotics to try and fight off the infection. It took me all afternoon and trips to four different pharmacies to finally make it home with the meds. After two days on those meds and a fever scare, I got a call back with the test results. Yup, it's a strain of MRSA and the pediatrician had to call the infectious disease specialist at the hospital to figure out how to treat it. It turns out there is only one antibiotic that can fight it and Lauren has been on it for four days now.
The struggle to get her to take this med is absolutely heartbreaking. After the first day of trying to get her to take it and trying to think of every possible food or drink item to disguise it in, it's come down to having to literally hold her down and forcing the dropper into the back of her mouth. It's takes every bit of me and Joe to hold and dose her. The trouble we are running into is that once I drop a little of the med into the back of her mouth, she won't swallow and gargles it until it comes out. Even if we spill a little water into her mouth after each little bit, she manages to gargle some of it out. Getting her to swallow is nearly impossible. We have been laying her down flat with her head on a small pillow. Joe holds her body, while I hold her head and squeeze med from the dropper into the back of her mouth as she is screaming on top of her lungs. Any suggestions or ideas would be MUCH appreciated, as we have six more days of three doses a day and it's emotionally draining on all of us!
On the positive side, she seems to be feeling good and is eating and drinking normally. She has been having a great time with the family since my dad has been here. Here are a few layouts of my favorite pics with her cousins that I did for her scrapbook (click to enlarge)...
Here are some of my other favorite pics from the week...
Well, my dad and step-mom flew back this morning and all is now quite at the house again. It will be nice to get Lauren back on her regular schedule, but it's so sad to say good-bye not knowing when we'll see them again. We had a great visit and it was so much fun to watch Lauren with my dad and laughing and playing with her cousins all week.
19 comments:
This helped with our little medicine gagger. Zylosweet (sold at whole foods and in the healthfood section of some grocery stores and sprouts) is a natural sweetener that is actually good for you. It keeps bacteria from sticking to the teeth and the intestine wall and it is actually recomended by dentists now. We would take a teaspoon and mix it the with the medicine. Add the tiniest amount of water if it gets too thick. Put in a empty cup with a lid and straw from like a fast food place that she would be expecting to be juice or whatever. Have it ready when she is really thirsty like with breakfast. As she eats be pretending to drink it yourself for a few minutes and then offer her some. Tip the cup and angle the straw into the liquid so she gets the little bit that is in there. She will take a big swig expecting a regular drink. Hopefully the sugar will keep her from spitting it out. Remember to use as little extra liquid as possible so there is less to convince her to drink. We would pretend to sip on it for quite a while before we would agree to give our daughter a drink. By then she'd be ready to take a nice big drink. Good luck! I know its the worse thing forcing something down your babies throat! And there is always the fear they will choke. You are doing awesome! Only 6 more days. Kudos for your strength and patience and I will pray her infection gets better at lightening speed!~Mary~
Sounds cruel but if you put the medicine in her mouth and blow quick and hard in her face that will startle her to make her swallow. OR, you can put the medicine and pinch her nose so she has to swallow. My oldest used to take a ton of medications when he was this age and that is how we did it.
Oh.. if you need to give her the medication when you are alone with no one to help out.... put her on the floor with her arms down to her side. Put a towel across her chest covering her arms and then straddle her with your lower legs on the towel. Seems like torture but it will get the job done. The towel will hold her arms down so she cant fight you. This leaves you with both hands free to give her the medication. My sons Dr told me about this trick. In the office they use a pappoose (a board with straps) to hold them down to give stitches.
You poor thing! What a rough week! Our pharmacy will flavor medication so it tastes better so you could maybe try that next time. It has taken both of us to give medication to our kids before and it's never fun!
Cute scrapbook pages too!
I'm glad you had a nice visit with your family. I hate to hear that Lauren has been sick. When we adopted Lili we ALL came home from Romania with Giardia. The pharmacist even told us that the medicine was the worst tasting of any that they knew of. She said to put it in pure grape juice. Maybe that will help. Hope she's better soon.
~Lynn
Sorry to hear about Lauren's booboo.....
I use to put the medicine in the back of Colton's throat and then pinch is nose real quick.. it makes them swallow..
he use to keep it in then spit it out..
LOVE all the photos..
Lauren is soooo darling..
Glad you got to spend time with your Dad and Step-mom..
Looks like Lauren LOVES her cousins..
Have a Great Week..
Wow, so sorry to hear that Lauren has been sick, but SO GLAD you knew to go in and get that stuff checked out. Those are some awesome mom instincts there.
I was a nose pincher too:(
At that moment you feel like the worse parent in the world but I have to say mine are now 11 and 15 and neither has ever brought it up that I held their noses:)
Lauren looks BEAUTIFUL in that coral/pink dress...well she actually looks beautiful in all the pictures but that color is so pretty on her!!!
squish cheeks together like you are trying to make them pucker. they can't spit it out that. forces them to swallow.
my son also has the MRSA situation. It is still on going with us. Been over two years. He has flare ups every now and then. We got a cream to put on his bum. Be glad you don't have to get the infection out by squeezing the sore...that's where we have our struggle with our little guy. The next flare up he will have to be admitted for IV antibiotics. The good thing about both your Lauren's and my little guy is it is the community version of MRSA. It is treatable. The hospital version is not!
Also i have an adopted daugther named Laren Elizabeth. When I saw your blog with the same name I had to follow your journey. Both of my babies are adopted. Domestic.
Also last week while at a meeting for my son (he is four and disabled with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) but at a parent meeting at school for my son I was asked if I was his grandmother. Heck....what gives with people. Just because I didn't get pregnant at 16 or right there after doesn't mean I have to be a grandma!
Good luck with it all.
Bless all your hearts! I FEEL YOUR PAIN!! We went through this with Lucy for a NINE MONTH round of meds. It was not pretty....
We found blowing in her face worked most of the time. We would lean her back, force the meds in the back of her throat (in small doses so if it came back out we wouldn't "lose" much) and then blew in her face til she swallowed. Repeat until finished. (we would let her catch her breath!!)
I know it seems barbaric, but the meds getting in their system is far more important than them being uncomfortable briefly...at least that's what I kept telling myself..LOL!
Good luck!!
Hugs, Jill
I know it sounds cruel and many have already suggested it. Pinching the nose works everytime. Best of luck!!!
Great photos and scrapbook pages -- you are very talented! Lauren looks so great!! Sorry about the probs with taking medicine -- we still have that with little M and she's 7! It does get a little easier. Take care.
Janet
oh my! I'm so sorry about the MRSA AND you guys having such a hard time getting her to take meds. I second the grape juice advice from Lynn. We have a kiddo who will throw up medicine if he knows what it is...and grape juice is the only thing out there that seems to mask any medicine (and he has been on quite a few in his 5 years!).
the pics are so great!
Yikes. So sorry little Lauren and your family are dealing with this. Stay strong. Wish I had some good advice for you, but anything I could suggest has already been covered.
Kind regards from Miami,
Carol and Taylor
I can't get any liquids down our daughter. When she was an infant, I could just pour it in her bottle and she drank it. now she is 4 and she can tell if it is in her drink. I even put it in caprisuns and she knows. She will spit and gag on liquid until it all comes out. It is all out war trying to get her to take it. So in frustration one time I called the pharmacy and asked if it came in pill form. It did and I bought it. Then I crumbled it and added it to her food. It can go in pudding or something like that. She was ok with that. I've even put a pill in the cream of an oreo!
For OTC meds, I look for pills or those dissolving strips. I can poke one in her mouth and it dissolves before she can get it out.
I do feel for you. It is the worst feeling have to force it on her and thinking she hates you. but it is for her own good. Last time our daughter had a high ever, we opted for an antibiotic shot. It was given 2 times, 24 hours apart. Much better than 10 days at 2 doses a day trying to force meds in her. insurance wouldn't pay for all of it but it wasn't that expensive.
hey aunt donna! :)
will you send me the pictures from this week? i want to print some of them out.
thanks,
Katie
I feel your pain with the medicine issue - we went through a similar phase, and then (during a late night trip to the ER with croup), the nurse showed us how to pucker his cheeks, put that dropper waaaay back and blow in his face. Took us a couple of tries to get it right, but it WORKS.
Also, whenever possible, I ask the pediatrician for the capsule version (vs liquid). Its easier to disguise the granules in yogurt or applesauce :)
Good luck!
Does Lauren like apple sauce a lot? My daughter loves apple sauce, and I have learned that I can mix any medication in apple sauce and she will eat it without a fuss - in fact she LOVES it. I highly suggest trying this if Lauren like apple sauce.
I was going to say the same thing the last commenter said. Our daughter would eat applesauce anytime of the day so I had to put her bad tasting meds in it also. I hope it all gets better soon. Try a different atmosphere when giving it to her. Take her outside , distract her. Ican remember trying anything. Good luck.
Love, Kristy
Don't have any suggestions for the meds but be very wary of MRSA. My oldest had that and it almost killed him. He ended up having surgery to cut it out and spent almost a week in the hospital. Go wash EVERYTHING! Wipe stuff down with bleach. Tyler now has to take a bath 2 to 3 times a week with diluted bleach because he's had 4 more episodes.
Don't mean to scare you guys - just want to give you a heads up.
Hugs,
Carla
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