hopefully never to be repeated...

The last 6 weeks. have been awful. Ghastly in fact which is why i have been unable to blog.

It started on the last day of last term (mid Sept) when we went for a weekend a way to celebrate my Dad's 60th. That night Ellie woke up vomiting, Tessa woke up screaming in pain and Jesse started with Diarrhoea. Having thought it would just be a 24 hr bug, we stayed and tried to enjoy the weekend.

However the night we returned home all hell broke loose with Ellie and Jesse vomiting and Tessa screaming again. STill thinking it was a 24-48 hr thing i tackled the mountain of disgusting laundry and tried to get the kids to rest and keep up their fluids. The next day i came down with it so violently that i couldn't get off the couch - i payed the girls $2 each to look after the younger 2 kids all day - best money i ever spent! Funny thing was mine only lasted 24 hours and i began to feel much better. What i didn't realise was that I was on antibiotics for a sinus infection that happened to get rid of this bug! lucky me.

My kids though were not so lucky. Ellie in particular was getting weaker and weaker and waking every 2nd night with vomiting and having continual Diarrhoea. With that much sleep deprivation i wasn't thinking so clearly or i would have realised the pattern but anyway, after 10 days I took her to the hospital. They were puzzled but just put it down to a viral gastro (seriously?????after 10 days????) but she went seriously downhill after that and we bounced in and out of hospital every 2nd day for another 6 days until i finally cracked it and said to them "She can't even talk or get off the couch and this is day 16. WHY AM I the only one better when everyone else in my house is sick with this?? Could it be something else like a parasite??? we WERE in Fiji lately AND have been exposed to this other parasite.." Suddenly they listened. And they were willing to accept other possibilities. My son had also had contact with another boy with a parasitic infection only 5 DAYS before all this happened.

Meanwhile, my baby Tessa had quietly grown more and more lethargic and unwell. on Day 12 she woke screaming in pain and this kept on unabated every half hour until 4.30pm when i interuppted Kieren working and told him i couldn't do this any longer - please take her to hospital. She was immedicately admitted with ? intersussception (telescoping of the bowel) and was transferred with me to the Royal Children's. After xrays ruling out intersussception and pain meds they discharged us home. Next day the Diarrhoea started again.

AGH! What a saga already! When elise was seen in ED on Day 16 i got a great doctor who was very interested in the whole family. he prescribed us all Flagil (an antiparasitic medication) and suddenly within 24 hours 4/5 of us were all better (Abbey has been well throughout this ordeal)! the only exception being Elise who couldn't keep down the Flagil without vomiting. So back into hospital we trekked and they immediately cannulated Ellie and gave her litres and litres of fluids. By this time she was SO dehydrated that any walking would send her heartrate through the roof , she had lost 4 kilos and her eyes were all sunken. I was SO scared....
24 hours later we were discharged with Ellie recovering very quickly and eating anything and everything. In fact within 24 hours of tolerating her medicine she was nearly back to normal (apart from looking skeletal!) Later that week she commenced half days at school and seemed very happy. Welcome germ Number 2(more to come).

Meanwhile back at home, the Flagil had worn off and both Tessa and Jesse started suffering more bouts of Diarrhoea. So back to the doctors and after pathology tests, were both started (at different times) on new rounds of Flagil. Oh and kieren and I did too. urgh. so we started changing nappies with gloves on to avoid reinfection. 6 times we ended up back at the GP's and they were scratching their heads and had no idea what to do with us. Have you ever seen that look in doctor's eyes when they see you enter, and you and your family are their worst nightmare?>??!!! Well, Jesse's test came back positive for Dientamoeba Fragilis - the same parasite our friend had. I had caught Jesse washing his toy in the toilet after this boy had defecated there (GROSSSS!) so i'm assuming that's how he picked it up. And even though i had told the doctors this they were SO adamant that it wouldn't cause all these symptoms.

So the last few weeks have ebbed and flowed with alternating rounds of Flagil and Diarrhoea. Doing my own research i have found that Dientamoeba Fragilis is a common parasite in Western, temperate areas and is VERY resistant to antiparasitics, particularly Flagil. One of the main problems is that other medicines used to treat this parasite are not available in Australia, AND GP's are very reluctant to prescribe alternative treatments (even though the antibiotic i was on for my sinus infection can be used to treat it very effectively, it is not authorised as such in Australia). So. A stale mate. Finally yesterday i got sick of visiting my GP and headed back to the hospital with Tessa as it has been 5 1/2 weeks of intermittent Diarrhoea. Finally we have been referred to the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital. Hopefully we'll find some answers and treatment there. I wonder why we werent referred there after the first stint but anyway.

ENTER GERM TWO: Bordetella Pertussis. Yep. You Got it. Whooping Cough. Poor Ellie copped it - i guess going back to school immune-deficient was not so grand a plan. So by the end of last week, as if i hadn't had enough puke and pooh to deal with, Ellie started coughing and then "whooping" and hurling. Charming. Poor girl. It's HORRIBLE to watch your child suffer with this. I just thank God we hadn't had any contact with young babies cos that would have been heartbreaking in a babe. Funnily enough i diagnosed this one before the GP did too. I really should become a Dr. - I've had enough "experience!!" Abbey came down with it earlier this week but only a very mild version and it seems the rest of the family are clear (thanks to our vaccinations last year!)

So that is my story so far....i've left out a few bits so as not to bore you with TOO much detail!! Although the bit where i pre-empted the paediatrician with a diagnosis was pretty cool. :P Gotta love being a parent and trusting those gut instincts. For me this horrible saga has made me aware of just how limited modern medicine and alternative therapies really are, AND how assertive you have to be for the sake of your children (although Kieren tells me i'm quite assertive enough thanks very much!).

So hopefully i'll have an end to this tale soon, but until then wish me luck, pray, and DONT play in the toilet!