Emergency Room at Primary Childrens Hospital

Last Friday Karter was complaining about his ear hurting him. He complained of it hurting when he layed on it. Nate and I figured we would just watch him and see if it gets better. We knew he didn't hit his head on anything, so we thought he might just be a little tired. Well, during the night Karter had a fever that spiked to 106 degrees! I didn't want to take him to the ER, so I waited a few hours and took him to the instacare. His temperature was 99 degrees when we got to the instacare. The doctor checked him out...no fever, his ears were perfect, so figured it was a virus and would just pass. When we got back home, and while I was talking to Nate about our appt, he noticed that Karter was very swollen below his right ear and around to the back. I couldn't believe that neither the Doctor or I noticed that while we were at the Instacare. And, it made sense why he complained of his right side hurting him, and why he wouldn't lay on it. So, I headed back in to see that same Dr. He had no idea what it was, or what to do about it. So I talked him into running some bloodwork to see if his blood levels were elevated a lot. Well, it turns out they were. So, Karter and I went to the Emergency Room at Primary Childrens Hospital.

We got checked in and the Dr came in to check on Karter. She took a look at his ear and where the swelling was and was worried that he may have an infection in his jaw joint. If he has an infection in the joint he would have to stay over night on IV antibiotics. I was worried about this scenario, not only for him, but because we were going to Las Vegas to see my brother whom we hadn't seen in a year. They needed to get a CT scan done to see what was going on. They came in and put in an IV. The worst thing ever is having your child lay on the table and cry because he is so scared. They got it in without any problems and gave him a snake for being so brave. Here is a picture of him with his snake and cars bandage over his IV.

Next was the CT scan. They had toys there for me to show him while it was going on, but again there was fear and tears from my little guy. I was able to stand by him during the CT scan which, obviously, helped a little bit. After a while the results came back. His Parotid Gland was swollen and nice and inflammed. He Dr still didn't understand why his swelling was located where it was if it was his Parotid Gland. (The Parotid Gland is located in front of your ear) After consulting the Radiologist again, it was only his Parotid Gland. This gland is where you get Mumps. So, she gave me guidelines on how to treat it (massage the area, put heat on it for 10 minutes each hour, and give him sour candy to stimulate the gland). It seems easy enough, I thought, but then I remembered how extremely sensitive it was to touch.

In the end we went on our vacation, and I am grateful he didn't have to stay overnight at the Hospital for any reason!