Mastoid Who??

Those were my thoughts exactly on March 23th as I stood in front of Elle's pediatrician. "What the hell is Mastoiditis?" I asked. "Look, is this something your office can handle or do I need to get her to the ER? If so tell me now so I can get her there!" I already knew the answer...it was "She needs to go to the ER now, I'll call and let them know your on the way." My other thoughts were "thanks for making us wait for a freaking hour with a 103* fever. We REALLY need a new pediatrician, but that's another story for another time. Andy met us and we all headed down to Wolfson Children's Hospital.

Earlier in the day I picked Elle up from a nap and immediately noticed that her right ear was sticking out severely. It looked like Alfred E. Neuman from MAD Magazine! I stood staring at it for a moment, puzzled. Had it always been like this and I was just now noticing it? Was it because her hair was pushed back? I can't believe I had to question it. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I know every freckle, crevice and mark on that babies body. When I touched it I realized something was very wrong. Elle started screaming. It was all coming together. For the past 2 days she had been crying hysterically off and on. Her ear hurt her so bad that anytime she touched it or rubbed it against something she would scream. I felt horrible!

We arrived at the ER at 6pm, waited until 8pm to be called into a room and by 9 pm were still waiting to be seen. That all changed when Andy informed the staff in the ER that Elle was 1 hour past due receiving her seizure medication. Needless to say...Elle was now being seen. After hooking her up to IV antibiotics, a CT scan was ordered. Finally at midnight...Elle went for the scan. The confirmation came back, Elle had developed Mastoiditis. When I asked how someone gets this I was told.."you have to be very unlucky." Wonderful!! By 2 am, they had moved Elle into a private room.


Mastoiditis is an infection of mastoid process, the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear which contains open, air-containing spaces. It is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media (middle ear infection) and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. With the development of antibiotics, however, mastoiditis has become quite rare in developed countries. It is treated with medications and/or surgery. If untreated, the infection can spread to surrounding structures, including the brain, causing serious complications.

They admitted her and immediately started her on IV antibiotics. After 4 days, they did another MRI. As Elle's luck, or lack there of, would have it, she developed an abscess that now needed surgery. When they went in to drain it, they found that the mastoid bone was actually infected resulting in having to scrape part of the bone clean and removing a small portion of it. After a total of 8 days Elle came home. But not without incident. One of the nursing assistants was feeding Elle. She claims that she turned to get a spoon and in that instant, Elle fell out of the hospital crib, 3 feet, and landed on her head on the floor. Thank GOD, she is OK. She had put the side rails down all the way which should never happen unless Dr.s or Medics are working on that child. This was not the case. End of subject- I can't even talk about it.

Here are a few pictures of "Trouble" as Elle is know as on the 4th floor at Wolfson Childrens Hospital. She was given this name by Nurse Karen during her LAST visit and lived up to it again. Here's her rap sheet-

Elle continuously pulls off all leads and keeps nurses running day and night
Elle continuously pulls of pulse sock and keeps nurses running day and night
Nurse finally disconnects Elle to give her beeper a break!
Elle again pulls off all leads and this time, hides them in her diaper
Elle pulls of her 1st IV and hides it in her crib to use as leverage to escape
Elle pulls out the 2nd and 3rd IV's with the hopes of being released for Bad Behavior!
Elle is officially known as "Trouble"
After pulling out IV #4, Nurse Karen, at the request of mommy, splints both arms.
Elle gets PISSED!
Elle somehow unwraps the tape securing the splint and takes it off.
Nurse Karen arrives with knee socks and LOTS of tape!!!
Little did we know...Elle was just getting started!!
Here are a few pictures of our "perfect patient".