Birthday Scare!

On Friday, Bekah woke up extremely whinny as we were preparing for her big birthday party scheduled for Saturday. I figured she was only tired from staying up late the night before. Well once again I guessed wrong. She went down easily for her nap, but when she woke up she couldnt walk because she said her left leg hurt too badly. So I then took her temperature and she did indeed have a fever. She layed on the couch crying the entire evening. Sat morning she woke up and was limping with the a low grade fever so we figured she must be getting better. So we decided to keep the party but only allow family to come to protect other children in case she was really sick. She woke up from her nap 20 min before the party and I realized she was not going to have a lot of fun. She once again could not walk at all and didnt care about all the people and the party. So we quickly had cake to hopefully get her in the mood which did help a little. Then during presents she stood in one place loving all of her presents but wouldnt move or bend down to reach the gifts. After the party I took her temp and her fever had gone back up even after Ibuprofen so I called the Dr as she laid on the couch crying. Of course we were sent to the ER nearby and they were stumped because the pain was never in the same knee at the same time. If it were an infection in her joint it is almost impossible to have 2 joints on different sides of the body infected. But it had to be more than achiness to keep a 3 yr old from walking. After having no clue what was wrong and taking her blood after already attempting and failing the first time which they found a high white blood cell count they decided it must be viral. The next day (Sunday) Bekah still could not walk and still had a high fever. Our pediatrician called to check on Bek and was severly disapointed in our last visit to the ER, so suggested we go to Riley. The first dr who saw us at Riley said he would never send a 3 yr old home who will not walk with a high fever without ruling everything out! So they admitted us and ran several tests. Yes more blood work on our poor little girl but at least they knew how to do it quickly! Xrays on hips and knees to check for fluid and signs of juvenile arthritis. Luckily the xrays looked normal. In the ER alone 3 different Drs examined Bekah do determine what was wrong. Once in the infectious disease unit 4 more Drs examined her! I couldnt believe the attention they gave her. It felt so good to know they cared as much as we did. After everything they are almost 100% sure it is a post-viral reaction in this case post-viral arthritis. A virus never escaped about 2 weeks ago and found its way to her joints. However, they do know they still could be wrong so we have to keep a close eye on her fever. If it comes back we will need to run more tests. Or if the pain becomes severe again and she is back to refusing to walk again we have to run more tests. Some pain may persist up to 6 weeks! We hope not! She has been walking, running, and jumping today but still complains her right knee hurts and now her left shinn. Scott and I were bummed to spend Bekah's 3rd birthday at the hospital, but she scored some pretty cool gifts while at Riley. They made sure it was a special day anyway! It is hard not to continue to worry when Bekah still is not 100% and knowing it could get really bad again with more testing. We are trying to trust God in this whole matter knowing he does care and has his hands on our little girl! Our goal before Christmas is to get some sleep and get everyone healthy!