Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Piya with Febrile Fit



Okay.. Here goes.. Many have been asking me “How on earth Piya ended up with a febrile fit?” or more commonly known as seizures…. I know that the news stir shivers in your spine and you might have thought “Why were you so careless?” or “What have you been doing?”…. To be honest with you; no mother with a sound mind would want any harm on her baby so believe me, it was not negligence but just something beyond my control…….  *We can’t stop blaming ourselves already okay…..


How everything started

The whole catastrophe began on Tuesday Jan 8, 2013; I fetch Piya as usual around 6.20pm from her playschool. While I was parking the car, I could see her running around the yard with her new friends. The weather wasn’t that bad however it wasn’t that good either. As I put my arms around her, I noticed that her head (only the head) was very warm. Something felt amiss. Later that night, Uncle Din and I took turns looking after Piya as the temperature began to permeate to her entire body. Around 3:00 am, her temperature has reached 39 degrees C. My goodness..  So without further delay, I inserted a suppository in her anal and begin to unravel her clothes and sponge her little body. 

The next day Wednesday Jan 9, 2013 I brought Piya to our favorite clinic in town; Alam Medic @ Bukit Jelutong. I informed the doctor that my greatest concern was the fear of Piya might be experiencing dengue fever because she would have mosquito’s bites on her arms and face everyday upon returning from the playschool. Mothers are paranoid; tell me about it….. Much to my surprise, the doctor just checked her temperature (by her ears), her heart beat rate and said it is a normal fever. She didn’t even bother to scrutinize Piya physically. Was this doctor deaf or what? She subscribed us some medicines and subsequently I sent Piya to her playschool. I just informed the principal to look after Piya with extra care and call me if she gets worse.

What happened that night

Now, this is where the nightmare begins…… Piya was getting really warm and wasn’t responding to her medication. Prior to head to DEMC, I gave her a quick bath with hopes it might subside the temperature. With an audacity of hopes, we went to DEMC and apparently her temperature has reached 39.3 degrees C. Suddenly out of nowhere, Piya passes stool and of course she needs a nappy change. We went to the ladies room and I loosen her diaper. I splash some water to her derrières and was totally caught by surprise that Piya gushes an unfamiliar sound. As I look up in the big wall size mirror, Piya’s jaw had dropped and hardened. Her eyes were void and began to fidget horizontally. What the heck??
 
“Piya! Piya! Nape nih sayang???” Coincidently, our number was called and I ran to the doctor’s room carrying Piya close to my chest. I had forgotten that she weights 12kg and totally felt like a high school sprinter for 100m again. The doctor asked me to go the emergency room at the back and we were asked to step aside. A scene from Grey’s Anatomy flashed my mind….. I can’t believe that one day I would be one of those people standing hopelessly by the side and watched the doctor trying to save my daughter’s life…. Damn……. 

They unravel her garb and sponge the entire body. Meanwhile, another nurse pokes her small hand and inserted a tube. Blood began to flow through the tube into a small test tube... The doctor inserted something in her anal and tried to keep the body under control. Piya wasn’t being herself; She was fidgeting, both toes were pointed vertically and looked so pale, her mouth was muttering unfamiliar words and her eyes were still void…. I looked up at Uncle Din and he was so desolate. The grief was so palpable. I on the other hand managed to held back my tears and hold my breath. Be calm and don’t cry.. Be calm and don’t cry.. It became a mantra in my head… I couldn’t bear watching her so I distracted myself by reaching for my insurance's agent. Now you know the importance of getting an insurance for your child right? Get one!

Moments later, Piya began to regain her consciousness (I think about 45 minutes later) but was still drowsy though. The staff had to bandage both her palms because she keeps trying to pull the tube and loosen the bandage. Hospital’s Paeds came in later; Dr Koshi (I LOVE DR. KOSHI.. HE’S THE BEST..) and he began to explain quite a bunch of information. In fact, it was quite overwhelming to digest such information as we’re still shaken from the misery that took place. The hospital took 1 hour or so to clear the insurance and we were admitted promptly. 

This was right after she gain consciousness @ the emergency room

As the routine goes

I don’t know about other hospitals but DEMC is very much well known for holding back the patients for days….. Don’t expect to stay overnight or even 2 nights.. More often than not, they will keep you for 1 week. So as for us, we stayed for 5D5N and the total bill was ≈ RM5,000.00 (hoyeaaaaah…. Thank goodness we have insurance). The routine was very simple; consulted by Paeds twice a day, oral medication every 4 hours and nebulizer every 3 hours. Piya had a terrible cough with phlegm which hinders her recovery. She would cry every time they made her inhale the nebulizer. During night time, I would ensconce next to her and make her feel safe while Uncle Din crashed on the sofa bed by the window. Poor baby… 

The fever was continual; sometimes she’s fine at 37, sometime she’s at 39. As long as the fever hasn’t deter, Dr. Koshi refuses to discharge Piya and that was why we ended up 5 days in the hospital. Even though Piya is the patient, Uncle Din and I were the ones ended up being weary. She is so active with zero resemblance to a sick person. She would still climb the bed, the couch, running down the corridor, down at the lobby and all over the places. 

Day 1


Day 2


Day 3
 

Day 4


 Day 5


Root Cause, Prevention and Control

Well, basically the root cause for febrile fit is none other than the baby was having a high fever. Some says that it is inheritance but I cannot vouch that. If your child hasn’t experience one, be prudent and mindful to keep her temperature subdue. Pat / sponge her continually and let her be in diapers only.
Now, what happens if your baby has experienced one? I can’t give you any solace that everything will be okay because I myself am very afraid right now. Dr. Koshi explained that once your baby has experienced febrile fit, there is a 30% chance of re-occurrence during every fever even when the temperature is only 38 degrees C. Give oral medicine Paracetamol (available at all Pharmacies) or suppository. The difference is simple; Paracetamol takes longer time but can be consume promptly while suppository can only be provided when the temperature is too high. I’m not quite sure about this because Dr. Koshi said that is a wrong teaching. Hmm….

All we can do is just manage and keep it under control. Repeat the steps above and if she is strike with a seizure, lean her side ways (to avoid choking on saliva) and continue to sponge the body. Don’t feed her any oral medication as she may choke. Don’t place any silver spoon (like the old adage or ancient ways) as that may cause damage to the teeth. 

It’s hard but then again, being a parent is not easy. Thank you for reading this….

6 comments:

  1. keciannya dia... T_T get well soon dear...

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  2. Oh my dora! what a terrible experience!mujur dh kat hospital at that time.

    take care piya+ mommy.

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  3. Alhamdulillah Piya dah ok! :D

    Tapi gambar Piya in yellow shorts tu funny la, Kak. Macam tengah exercise regangkan tangan. Hihi!

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  4. allene: thank you dear... she is still recovering

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  5. hye zahra: emmm..... sib baik berlaku kat hospital zahra.... The hardest part was to keep calm and collected........ kalu dora menanges melalak satu masalah lain pulak diorg nak settle..

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  6. soleil: hye sayang..... owh yg tuh.... mmg funny gak la.... die betol2 baru sedar from seizure tuh and heran tangan die berbalut.... pastu die start main tepuk2... ituh yg nampak mcm aerobic instructor....

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