By His Loving Mother, CyndiJo

My youngest son, almost 17 months old at the time, was picked up from daycare due to chicken pox on Thursday, May 2, 2002. To just have chicken pox, he was very cranky all the time, and cried painfully each time his left leg was moved to change his diaper or other activity, and he developed a mouthful of sores. Because of his great discomfort, I was in close phone contact with his doctors and nurses, and even took him in for a doctor's visit on the 15th. Each contact with the medical personnel I was advised it seemed to be just a very severe case of the chicken pox, and that I should just continue to make him as comfortable as possible.

On Sunday, May 19, he awoke from his morning nap with a fever of 104. As I tried bathing him in an effort to bring his temperature down, I noticed his left knee was purple and very swollen. On the advice of the on-call doctor, the baby was taken to the Baptist Hospital emergency room for knee x-rays to assure the joint was not septic. His white count was over 30, the doctors were unable to drain the knee to relieve the swelling, and he was admitted to the hospital.

The doctors felt sure he had some type strep infection and began an antibiotic treatment but did not determine until Tuesday morning that it was specifically group A. By the 7:30 doctors' round that morning, the swelling had traveled down to the lower leg, ankle and foot. An MRI was scheduled, and an orthopedic specialist was summoned. Within only 5 minutes of his examination of my son, he stated that surgery was needed immediately, there was no time for an MRI to aid him; he must go into the leg at once.

The initial surgery was on that Tuesday, and the process of cleaning the leg was repeated the following 3 days, usually preceded and followed by hours in the hyperbaric (pressurized oxygen) chamber. Keeping him immobile and unconscious that first week to spare him as much pain and suffering as possible, the physicians, nurses and other hospital staff fought to save both my son's life and his limb. Released from the hospital on May 30 - almost one month from the time he was diagnosed with the chicken pox -- he still had 6 weeks of IV antibiotics administered by nurses who came to our home twice daily the first two weeks, then as needed.

The medical people explained that due to the traumatic experience his body was undergoing, his little system just "shut down," with all his energies channeled into a survival mode, and that he would need to learn to walk and talk all over again. He celebrated his 2nd birthday in December. It is now the middle of March 2003. He is just now -- some ten months following his contracting the chicken pox -- learning to walk again. Although only minimal, there is some speech development, so progress is being made. We still do not know if the left leg will grow at the same rate as the right or that he will ever walk without a limp - but our miracle child is alive, full of love, and very much loved!

This is the only pic taken that shows Chad's leg.
It was taken in November 2002, about 6 months after NF.

CyndiJo
cyndijo2103@yahoo.com
March 2003