the beginning

It all started for us on December 24, 2010. The husband had to work, so I took our 3 kids (at then aged 5, 2, and 6 months) to my friend's parents' Christmas Eve party. Celia, our only daughter and middle child, was acting very clingy and being exceptionally quiet. I wasn't concerned, she was 26 months old and at a new place for the first time. As the night wore on she started screaming every time I tried to put her down. I remember being somewhat annoyed, trying to carry her around, supervise our 5 year old son, Oliver, and also meet the baby, Edmund's, needs. We left at a decent time (kids' bedtime is 7:30-8:00 at the latest), I got the kids loaded up and we drove home.

By the time we arrived home, Celia was burning up. I got the kids bathed and the 2 boys put down to bed, and then stayed up with Celia trying to comfort her and help her feel better. The bath helped a little bit, and she initially responded to Children's Tylenol, but her fever spiked again and she was extremely lethargic. My husband got home from work around 3:00 a.m. (Christmas Day). I was so tired, and already in my pajamas, that we decided he should take her to the local ER. When he brought her back a few hours later, he had antibiotics for her and she had been given a shot. She had tested positive for Strep throat and for a UTI. It seemed to both of us like a straightforward diagnosis and we hoped our other kids didn't get Strep, too.

We had a follow-up visit with her Pediatrician in early January, and all seemed to be going fine. He wasn't too concerned with the UTI, told us they are much more common in little girls than boys, and had us finish out her antibiotics. The problem was that after Celia initially perked up from the antibiotics, she started acting 'off.' As her mother, I noticed it: low-grade fevers (not even 100.5), lethargy, loss of the sparkle in her eyes. I phoned the physician a few times, only to be told knowingly, "it's a virus." She did have a few more UTI's pop up, but at that time I had no reason to be alarmed.

In early April, Celia spiked a very high fever, again after a day of lethargy, and it was a very scary night. I thought I read the thermometer wrong: 104.9. My husband was out of town, and it was me alone with the kids. Tylenol and Motrin wasn't working and she was moaning and seemingly not "with it." The next morning, when our Pediatrician's office opened (thankfully they are open on Saturday mornings), I was waiting with Celia. I had to carry her, she was so out of it. Our Pediatrician was on vacation so we saw another physician in the practice. After walking in the exam room door and getting a look at her, he told the nurse to call over to the hospital and get her a bed. The hospital and the doctor's office are connected, so they took her straight over. I had called my mom and she came in from out of town to help with the boys, so luckily she was with them in the car.

Celia was in the hospital for 7 days. IV antibiotics weren't working, which was scary. They initially got a handle on her fever and she was released after 4 days. Within 12 hours it was back up to 105 and she was re-admitted. She stayed another 3 days. Our Pediatrician was back from vacation and came to see us the day he released her. He referred her to the Children's Hospital in Peoria for more testing, by this time it was determined that she had suffered a nasty bout with a kidney infection.

these events marked "the beginning" of our journey into pediatric urology.