8 week old baby with recurrent UTI's. First one led to a kidney infection and then sepsis, please help me!

[missang25]

Hi there,

I am at my wits end here.  I really don't know what to do because everything is out of my hands.  My son is 8 weeks old and when he was 4 weeks old he had a very bad urinary tract infection.  He became lethargic and wouldn't eat.  I took him into emerg and they sent me home.  The next night he spiked a fever of 39.5 so I took him into the hospital.  Things moved pretty quickly, the pediatrician was called in and he told us that he had a uti.  At first he thought it may have been meningitis but it turned out after a TON of tests that he had a kidney infection and septicemia (blood infection).  He almost died, if I hadn't of taken him in that night he could have went into shock and had a seizure.  I trusted my gut that something was wrong and I thank god everyday that he is still here with us.  He was on I.V antibiotics for a full week in the hospital.. what a nightmare that was.  We thought everything was fine after all that, they put him on oral antibiotics for a week and then we saw the pediatrician again.  He said everything looked fine, didn't check his urine or anything and sent us home telling us to stop taking the oral antibiotics which he had originally prescribed for 2 months.

Ok, so here we are 4 weeks later and I took Jacob into emerg again on Friday because he has been extremely irritable and not calming down.. Waking up every hour screaming.  So they do Jacob's 5th catheter and it comes back as he has ANOTHER UTI!  They prescribed me Keflex and sent us home.  He is taking it every 6 hours for 7 days.  

Now here is my issue, I don't think Jacob is responding to these antibiotics because he has become extremely irritable again.  My gut says to take him back to emerg and I should trust that... however I am so frustrated w/ the pediatric unit in our town.  They were supposed to have me come in today, they never called so I called them.  We can't get in there till Wednesday, at first she told me next week.. and I told her "No, Absolutely no way!".  
He almost died from this exact reason last time (it started out as a uti and then to the kidneys and then into the bloodstream).  Shouldn't they be taking this a little more serious??  I want his blood tested and I want his urine taken again.  I want to know why this is happening to my newborn baby!!!  I want to be able to go to sleep at night and not wake up every hour w/ him.  I want to know that he is not developing a kidney infection!  I want to know what our next steps are because this is extremely rare in a male newborn to have developed 2 UTI's in 2 months!!


He has been tested for urinary reflux and it has come back negative.  He has had a ultrasound of his kidneys done and they look normal.  

Does anyone know the steps that will need to be taken next?  What kind of further testing will he require?  What happens if I don't notice another UTI and it then again goes into his bloodstream and kidneys??

I have never been so scared in my life, I just don't know what to do and none of the doctors are even giving me any answers.

Please help!!

[missang25]

Thank you very much for your replies.  I am currently looking for a pediatric urologist and I am hoping they can provide me with more answers than just the pediatrician that we are seeing now.  

Thanks again! This really is a stressful time as I am worried everyday that this infection is getting worse and not better.  I really would have thought they would have wanted to check his urine and his blood sooner than later - the fact that I actually had to call and request this is worrisome.  

Thanks again :)

[MSKshelly]

Dr. Singh is right.  I started having chronic UTI's as a young child thou at that point
not as severe as what your dealing with and I am a girl.  However it has only been now
as an adult that I have been diagnosed with Medullary Sponge Kidney disease,
which is a defect in the collecting systems in my kidney.  A pediatric urologist is going to be your best bet.  If you have a research hospital near you they are usually the best and have some of the most up to date info etc.  It sounds like though that your son has a very resistant bacteria also and seeing a doctor directly not the ER will give you better long term results. At the ER they are just there to stabilize you etc. You really need a good medical professional that knows your son's history and can best know what to do for him!  I would encourage you to get in as soon as you can, see if the ER might even call in a referral after your last visit to get you in more quickly.

Having kidney infections as an adult I can only imagine how painful they must be to a little one.  IN THE MEANTIME, heat, warmt,h be careful not to burn him, might help with the pain issues.  Using a rice bag etc that you microwave and put on him is best since you can feel the temp and do not have to worry like with a heating pad of it increasing!  If you don't have a rice or microwave type heat bag, you can take a clean sock fill it with rice and microwave it, once out tie a rubber band on it to keep the rice from coming out.  Put it on your wrist to make sure it is warm but not to hot and hold it on his kidneys or back.

I would also ask your pediatrician if he can have Tylenol etc.I know for adults there are some urinary analgesics that help but you can ask the pharmacist and doctor if there is anything like that for a baby.  He is so young be careful though and ask first!

Hope you all are doing better soon and find a good doctor to help him!

Shelly

[Dr J Singh]

Hi,
If a male child keeps on getting repeated UTI’s, then the possibility of some congenital abnormality of the urinary tract is quite high. He should be tested to look for these abnormalities which can predispose him to recurrent UTI’s. For the same, tests like intravenous pyelography, CT scan & DMSA scan etc are required which not only pick up the structural abnormalities of the urinary tract but also the functional abnormalities of the kidneys (DMSA). Please do consult a urologist for the same. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care.