When Gracie mutely laid her little hand on her mother’s face and then just went limp in the bathtub, Hallie Swenson knew her 2-year-old daughter was in trouble.
Just after Easter Sunday, Patrick and Hallie Swenson’s middle child lost her appetite, felt warm, and started having diarrhea. They figured she had caught a stomach bug like most kids do in peak seasons of the year.
As her diarrhea and vomiting increased alarmingly, she was examined at the Littlefork Medical Center where blood work showed slight abnormalities but nothing remarkable. The couple returned home with their daughter, urging her to take more liquids and watching for signs of worsening.
Their anxiety increased when they couldn’t break Gracie’s fever which had climbed to 105 degrees. The couple anxiously placed her in cool baths in efforts to decrease her temperature.
By Wednesday, Gracie was becoming listless and her face started to swell severely. “Her little face was so puffy,” said Hallie. Now she was vomiting over-the-counter fever reducers. “And just a teaspoon of Pedialyte was coming right back up,” said her mother.
Hallie remembers one period when Gracie, who up to then had been doing well with potty training, had her diaper changed over 20 times in an hour and a half.
In the silent, worried glances between husband and wife, Pat and Hallie knew they needed help.
They brought Gracie to the emergency room of Falls Memorial Hospital where she was admitted. Intravenous liquids were started to help balance her severe dehydration. Gracie was given potassium when it was discovered that her levels were dangerously low. She had no tears and put up no fight when the IVs were inserted.
Although the fever was decreasing, the toddler was so lethargic that she just stared blankly even as she vomited from the side of her mouth. Gone was the little girl known for her spitfire personality.
And it was Friday.
Pat and Hallie made the decision to move their daughter to St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth and went home to pack for the trip.
The parents say that this was one of the most frightening times in Gracie’s illness. They remember the terror of preparing for an ambulance ride when no one knew what was making their little girl so sick.
To allow them to travel together in the ambulance to Duluth, Gracie was strapped to her mother’s body on the gurney.
A diagnosis
On the pediatrics floor of St. Mary’s Hospital, the staff was immediately alarmed by the swelling in Gracie’s face. Even though she had not eaten for five days, Gracie’s weight had actually increased by 2-1/2 pounds. The weight gain was fluid she was retaining as a result of her decreased kidney function due to the altered chemistry of dehydration.
But readily, medical personnel had a hunch what was causing Gracie’s suffering. Hallie remembers a nurse saying “Smells like rotavirus.”
And indeed, Gracie’s diaper culture showed she harbored the common, but sometimes deadly, rotavirus. She was placed in a Contact Isolation room.
Rotavirus
Rotavirus is a highly contagious virus that can infect anyone but nearly all children have had it by their third birthday. While many have a mild infection, some become seriously ill, as did Gracie.
The most dangerous complication of rotavirus is the dehydration caused by severe diarrhea. The rapid loss of fluids in tiny bodies, usually in ages 6 months to 2 years, reduces the electrolytes (a balance of minerals and salts critical for proper organ function) they need. The severe disease can cause convulsions or shock, which in rare cases, can lead to death.
Children can catch the infection if they put their fingers in their mouths after touching something contaminated by the stool of an infected person. Most children do not wash their hands often enough, especially before eating and using the toilet. People who care for children should take also special precaution in washing their hands after changing diapers.
Hallie also cares for a couple of children from other families. The couple is puzzled that they, nor the other Swenson children, McKenzie, age 5, and 5-month-old Hayden didn’t contract even the mild illness.
Rotavirus is resistant to most disinfectant cleaners, including anti-bacterial products. The virus can survive for a few hours on human hands and in water; and for days on hard and dry surfaces. Even the cleanest environments can be infected and all children are vulnerable. It is difficult to avoid exposure to the disease.
Most rotavirus infections occur in the winter season. Annually, the virus is responsible for over 70,000 hospitalizations of kids under age 5. Activity peaks in the southwestern United States in the fall; and in the northeast through the spring.
One hundred children die as the result of rotavirus infections every year during those two seasons.
The illness can last anywhere from three days if the virus passes quickly through the system; or up to nine days with diarrhea lasting up to two weeks depending on the degree of damage to the intestine.
Getting better
The main goal in hospitalizing a child with rotavirus is preventing further dehydration and improving fluid intake. Gracie’s IV was maintained throughout her journey.
As the illness subsided, the toddler was given Pedialyte and sugar-free beverages by mouth. Sugar increases diarrhea so no juices, pop or Gatorade should be given.
She remained in Duluth for two more days.
Gracie is happy and healthy today, although she has had nightmares about the experience, said Hallie.
She cries out in the night “No, no, no ...owie.” When asked about the hospital, she furrows her brow, points to her arm, and says “Dora” remembering the band aids used to secure her IVs.
Gracie had a bleeding diaper rash from the acidic and constant diarrhea, said her mother. But now she cheerfully lays on the floor so daddy can change “a normal diaper.” And she lovingly offers sweet kisses to her baby brother who receives them whole heartedly with a wet, open mouth.
Pat and Hallie are appreciative of family members who followed Gracie to Duluth, and others who cleaned and disinfected their home while they were gone. They’re excited to have dinner out after the frightening ordeal, but they’re also happy just to have noisy kids and normal problems again.
“People shouldn’t panic,” said Hallie. “But we really hope this will increase awareness.”
Rotavirus: Symptoms and Complications
Rotavirus often begins with a fever and is followed by vomiting and upset stomach as well as increasing amounts of watery diarrhea several times a day. Care givers should know how to monitor the signs of dehydration:
• Frequent vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Lethargy (A child who is hard to wake up, won’t focus on you or is less responsive to touch and voice)
• Less frequent urination
(no wet diapers for eight hours or longer)
• No tears when crying
• Dry, cool skin
• Fever
• Frequent, watery diarrhea often foul-smelling, discolored or bloody
• Dry or sticky mouth
• Sunken eyes or soft spot on top of head
• Extreme thirst
Liquids should be encouraged early in this type of illness but highly sugared beverages such as pop, juice and Gatorade should not be given because sugar increases diarrhea.
Young infants should never be given water alone, since the salts lost in diarrhea need to be replaced.
Delicious
Digg
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Facebook