Very sick 7 year old

[CLatta]

I am not sure if this is the right forum, but I am desperate for help. I have a 7 y/o daughter who has been sick since January 20th. That was the day we went to the Dr. and she was diagnosed with Strep Throat (She normally gets strep at least 3 times/winter).She was given omnicef for an antibiotic (she is allergic to Zithromax) About a week and a half later she was diagnosed with Pnemonia, and given anther omnicef perscription. One week later the pnemonia was getting worse, and she was hopsitalized for 2 days with IV antibiotics. We left with an additional 5 days of omnicef. Through out this time, she continues to run fevers any where from 99.5-105. We went back to the dr almost every week, for them to tell us she has a virus on top of the other things, and thats why the antibiotics arent helping ~ she still had a fever.The The first week in March I took her to back to the doctor because she continued to run high fevers and vomit every couple days.They then diagnosed her with Scarlet Fever the first part of the first week of March. After being on the antibiotics for 4 days she was still vomiting and running a fever. When we returned to the dr. he fever was 105.6 and she was lethargic. They tested her for the Flue, did a urinalisis, and sent us to the Children's hospital to get additional chest x-rays. Nothing showed up and they told us it was probaly a viral infection on top of the scarlet fever. She was still vomitting every now and then. She has now finished the antibiotics for the scarlet fever (on saturday morning), and was still running a fever off and on. She constantly complains of pain in her lower neck, wrists, knees, and ankles. She also has constant abdominal pain. She was sent home from school on Monday with a low grade fever and I called her Dr. He orderd the following blood tests, CBC, IMGL, and SED rate. When I google these tests together and the illnesses all together auto immune diseases, mostly Juvinille Rheumatoid Arthritus. Does anyone have experience with this? Does this match the symptoms? Please help me, any answers will be benificial!

[msnova74]

Ask the docs if they have checked her for mono.  My grand baby had it twice last year.

T

[mblmom]

My daughter was sick for almost 2 full years with one infection or virus on top of another, carrying a bag full of meds with me wherever we went. She is only 2 and half. My daughter was diagnosed with MBL deficiency. My daughter constantly had high fevers, lethargy, sinus infections that led to 2 surgeries, and pneumonia. She is on antibiotics to prevent infections. You may want to go to an immunologist/ allergist who can order a Mannan-Binding Lectin Pathway Function Test (C4b Deposition Assay). If she gets sick often, this may be the route you would like to look into. If it is not MBL deficiency, then it sounds like an immunodeficiency disorder that can lead to autoimmune disorders that cause Rheumatoid Arthritis. I would also look into a University Hospital of sorts in your area that is more up to date in the latest research as it sounds as if the doctors that you are going to may not be meeting your needs. Believe me, I went through A LOT of them before I found out my daughter's disorder Look into this website when you get a chance. http://www.primaryimmune.org/about_pi/about_pi.htm. Good luck.
Christa

[Fluffysmom]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your daughter, as well as with her doctors, so they can see their way to clearly diagnose and treat your daughter.

My only experience with anything similar is when my sister had Scarlet Fever when she was young; her feet swelled up so much that we had to rent a wheel chair for her.  

She ended up with Mitral Valve Prolapse, damage to one of her heart valves.  I think it is important that after all you daughter has been through that she have an echocardiogram done; preferably a transesophageal echo (I think that's what my sister's was called)

She has had a lot of health issues, and ended up with bacterial endocarditis as an adult; she had to have IV antibiotics through a pic line (which she had in all the time, at home).

It's important to find out if there is damage to a heart valve; if there is, she'll need to have antibiotics before teeth cleanings and stuff like that, to keep bacteria out of her blood stream.

I also don't want to cause you more worries, just am suggesting something that may be important for your daughter's doctors to consider.

Wishing you all the best; answers and wellness for your family.

Kathy

[cloeybaby]

I know it is very hard when the dr's can not tell you what is wrong with your child. My 8 year old passed away not to long ago...it started out that she would get pneumonia twice a year until she was about 5 then last summer she started coughing and needing an inhaler alot..i toook her to the dr every week for them to say she had a virus or a cold...finally after months of this they gave her a cat scan and said she had a massive sinus infection. she never fully got better from this..during this time she would complain of severe abdominal pain...sometimes she was hunched over in pain...the dr never seemed to worry much about this...she also would throw up just out of the blue for no reason at all..sometime lasting 2 days at a time so we thought it was just the flu...then in july of last year her ankles became swollen but only for a day...in august she complained of a sore throat and her ankles became swollen again...the swollen ankles only lasted 2 days..i took her to the dr and they said she had strep throat...the next night she started throwing up and running a fever..she was on amoxicillin so i figured i would wait and let it kick in..that night she began breathing rapidly but said she was fine and did not need to go to the er..the dr even said she could wait til morning to be seen...i got to the dr the next morning to find out her o2 level was 40%..needless to say..she had an autoimmune disorder called good pastures syndrome...we did not know until she passed away that night. i am not telling you this to scare you...it's a one in a million chance that you get it....but just don't take no from any dr...you test your child until you are satisfied with what they found..dr's are not as thorough sometimes as they need to be..seems like they are only trained to treat strep throat and the common cold.

[PlateletGal]

A sed rate actually tells if there is inflammation in the body.

It sounds like your daughter has a successive infection. Please let us know what the lab results are when you get them and/or a possible diagnosis.

Wishing you & your daughter the best,

~PlateletGal

[ohanamama]

First, my prayers are with you.  I too am a mother of a young girl, and I'd be terrified if I were you.  Don't let the doctors send you away if you don't feel enough has been done for you!!  Ask for more tests, a specialist, a second opinion, or whatever you can think of to keep on pushing.  Antibiotics are not always the answer.  They are so over-prescribed in our youth that when we get older, we can no longer be cured by them because our bodies have developed immunities to what the antibiotics could have killed.  As far as the blood tests go, they could have been done a while ago -- a CBC is the most basic, Complete Blood Count.  A SED rate is quite common and tells the Sedementation Rate, which indicates infection in the body.  The IMGL isn't one I know of off the top of my head, but that doesn't mean anything.  These tests look for basic body functions (infection, kidney, liver, sugar levels, etc).  Your daughter should NOT be sick for this long.  Get someone to follow through on this for you and find a way to get her healthy!