A few days in, he had a seizure that lasted hours, I was told to prepare for him to pass away, and to say goodbye,( I was told he had approximately a 3% chance of survival) and if, by some miracle he did pull through, that he would never walk, talk or interact and would need ongoing medical care. We were devastated, but truly believed he would pull through. In my mind he had to, he could have hearing aids or glasses... he would be fine.
That night felt like years. His drip kept on clogging up, they put it in both arms and both feet, then they wanted to put it into his head straight into his fontanelle to give him what he needed.
The next morning came and we had a result back, BACTERIAL PNEUMOCOCCAL MENINGITIS... But how, he had his pneumoccocal vacination?
His drip had completely stopped at this point in his foot, so they agreed to give him four-hourly injections into his legs of the medication that would make him better.
I was told by a doctor at this point that the next few days, even weeks, would be a test for his little body. Everything was looking good, he was making progress, then I started to notice a rash spreading over his body. The doctors told me this was the start of septicaemia, and if he pulled through he may need amputation, and got me to read info about it. I was horrified, but was willing to do whatever it took to keep him alive.
That afternoon, the fever dropped a little, and the rash got worse. He didn’t like the light on, and screamed a cry that was so high pitched, it was strange.
We followed this journey for a few days and nights, one blending into the next. I was still breastfeeding, as best I could with a baby who would have seizures, and would fall asleep in the chair while feeding him. Soon I was not able to feed him anymore, and we hoped for a miracle...
We got it! He started to make a recovery. At day 14 in hospital they let me go home, as long as he still got the needles every 4 hours.
I walked out of the hospital with my little boy in my arms, with nothing more than a slight hearing loss caused by the meningitis. As I was being discharged the doctor told me something I will never forget. He said: "He survived because you did everything right, you had luck as well with the doctor who picked up on the bulging fontanelle and the nurse who recognised his cry and called me..... But the thing that probably saved his life was the fact you had him immunised..." (Immunised eight days before he got sick).
Now five years later, he has 100% hearing, but still has issues with volume control due to the hearing loss, he walks, talks (a lot), interacts etc. He has been about six months behind with all his milestones, but is otherwise healthy and happy.
I had my husband and a great support network of family and friends there with me through this, for which I am extremely grateful.
Nicole Madden
May 2012