Update on Katrina

Well, no news is ... no news.



Katrina first complained of a stomach ache on Monday, February 1st. She kept complaining, and it seemed to get worse as the week progressed. On Thursday, February 4th, I took her to the ER. They couldn't find anything wrong (not that they really tried all that hard), so they told me to go to her regular pediatrician.



We went to her pediatrician that afternoon. He basically looked at me like I was nuts. But, he told me that her urine sample they took at the ER was going to get cultured to see if it was a UTI.



You might remember the vindication I felt that Saturday when our pediatrician called and told us that she did, in fact, have a UTI. We ordered the antibiotics and assumed she would feel better.


She did feel better, for a couple of days. From about Monday, February 8 through Thursday, February 11. Then it started again.


This weekend she felt miserable. The pain comes and goes in waves, alternating between a dull ache and a monstrous roar. There are times she can function, play with her sisters, engage with us. And there are times when she wants nothing to do with the world. Where every motion hurts. Where she screams and cries in pain. Where she cannot even move on her own.


We went back in to the pediatrician on Monday, seeing one of the female docs. We assumed that the UTI was back. They took another urine sample, and sent it away to be cultured. In the meantime, they gave us a medicine to, essentially, numb her bladder.


That did not work. The pain remained, and, in fact, has gotten worse. The pediatrician called on Wednesday to report that the urine culture was negative, that there was no UTI. So, back to the drawing board.


The pain was so bad yesterday that, as hard as she tried, she simply could not handle being at school. We went again to the doc in the afternoon. A different doc.


And then, we figured out part of it. There was no positive UTI test. Ever. Our regular pediatrician, the one we saw back on the 8th, had misread her chart. He was looking at the test results from a UTI she had back in 2007. All three urine tests they have taken this month were negative. He gave her antibiotics for no reason. And left us with pain for 2 1/2 weeks.


Grr...


Katrina was in a lot of pain last night, and was honest with the doctor about that pain. I was proud of her for her honesty. I see a lot of myself in her. She wants so desperately to please people that she tries to hold back when she hurts. She didn't want to miss school, so she would try to deal with it without saying anything to her teacher, and then come home and collapse. We had a breakthrough together last night about honesty. That it is OK to hurt. It's OK to tell people you hurt. That you don't have to be tough, or a trooper, to make someone proud. Amazing how God teaches us lessons through our children.


The doc last night wanted to run a complete blood panel, just to see if something weird showed up. The wonderful nurses at the office tried their hardest to get the vein to work. She has tiny veins, of course, and the one they tried kept rolling. They dug around for about a minute before they gave up. Katrina was so strong. She was crying, but kept her arm so strong that they didn't even have to hold her arm down. They were so impressed.


When we decided that this was not going to work, they sent us to Mercy to get it drawn there. When we got to the lab, I told them what happened at our doctor's office, so they immediately called down one of the pediatric nurses to do the draw.


This woman earns my sainthood metal of the year award. You could tell she was nervous about having to stick a little kid, but she was so patient and loving with Katrina. She got the needle in her other arm great, first shot, but then the blood wasn't flowing. They took as much as they could, then asked one of the techs if it was enough.


Nope. Not even close.


So, we had to stick her again. This time in her wrist. And, praise God, the blood flowed great. They got enough blood for all the panels. Katrina, the love bug that she is, gave each and every one of them a hug and told them thank you. Even after getting stuck three times with a painful needle, she shows love and forgiveness. I know some adults who could use this lesson!


This afternoon, the doc called. And, we are back to the "no news is no news". There was nothing abnormal in her blood. Absolutely nothing that could raise concern. The doc, honestly, has no clue what it could be. We have some ideas, but no concrete clues. And her pain is getting worse by the day. She was at the nurse's office three times in pain today. She would lay down, wait for the pain to get bearable, and then go back to class. But she wanted to go to art class so badly that she refused to go home. How many times did I do that to my mom & dad.


Our next step is an ultrasound, which we have scheduled for 8 AM tomorrow morning. If that doesn't show us what is wrong, I honestly have no idea what we will do. I just want her better. I want to look into my daughter's eyes and not see the deep hurt. The exhaustion. The frustration. I want to see her play, eat, laugh, run around, have fun.


We are going to spend the rest of the day resting. Hopefully, she will feel well enough to go to the Daddy Daughter Dance tomorrow night at church. She has been looking forward to it for months.


So, that is where we are at. I wish I knew more. I wish I was the one in pain, instead of her. But I am grateful for her strength, for her confidence in God's healing touch. I will let you know when I know something. Thank you for praying.