At CHOP, Again!

Little Miss Emily is back at the hospital. She started eating less - alot less - and having difficulty sucking and swallowing. She was choking some on her bottles too. So when she got to only taking less than an ounce in 12 hours I called her docs and we went to the ER on Monday morning.

They took us right in and checked her out. Her neuro docs came to see her and because she was not dehydrated they were going to send us home! But, unexpectedly, her bloodwork came back with an abnormally high calcium level. And that changed everything.

She needed to be admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. High calcium can be caused by some pretty serious issues; such as heart problems, kidney infections/failure, para thyroid problems, and malignant (cancerous) tumors. They started using Lasiks, a diuretic, and lots of fluids to get her to urinate more frequently, which would help excrete the calcium. They did an EKG, which showed normal heart rhythms. They did blood work and an ultrasound of the kidneys which showed they are working normally. And the oncologists checked her lungs and abdomen and found no masses/tumors, so they do not think she has cancer of any kind. Her thyroid levels also came back normal.

All good news. But her calcium is still elevated (lower than it was though) and they just don't know why. We are waiting for 2 blood tests which will hopefully clarify what's going on.

We will continue with the lasiks and possibly add a medicine to get the calcium back to normal. We are going to do a full body bone xray to rule out any spots on her bones. She is still not taking any food by mouth, we can only get her to take enough pedialyte to get her medicine down. The rest she gets by IV fluids. She's been sleepier than usual, and the high calcium can cause lethargy as well as muscle weakness. But she's been a trooper, as usual, and we just can't wait to figure this hurdle out and get back home again.