The Curious Case of Maia Morin

After 5 days in the hospital with IVs of antibiotics running 4x a day and a drip all night, being quarantined in her own room, being with about a dozen nurses and 7 doctors and 1 infectious disease doctor, and a hospital bill the size of Texas, Maia is home without a firm diagnosis.

Maia was checked into the hospital last Friday after a follow-up visit with our pediatrician. We took her in on Thursday due to a red rash around her mouth and on her hands which turned into white blisters. One nurse thinks it's bollous impetigo. One doctor thinks she got a bad burn from exposure to citrus acid and sunlight. (Yes, that is true. She was eating a lime at lunch. She had sunscreen on, we were sitting under the shade at the table, and then went for a swim where she sat in her pool floatie which had a shade over it.) On Friday the white blisters turned into yellow blisters and then to nice scabs. She was admitted to th hospital. Doctors and nurses were thinking that it was bollous impetigo. They decided to take run some tests. All tests run by the hospital came back negative. Not a bacterial infection, not a systemic thing, not a staph or strep thing. However, she was on antibiotics for a day previous to the tests.

At the pediatrician's office on Thursday, they lanced one of the blisters on Maia's hand and took a culture from that. Great! Surely that would give us answers since they hadn't given her any antibiotics previous to the culture. We got news from the doctors and nurses that Maia's culture had been cancelled but then a day later they said that they found them and that they had been run.

Doctors and nurses still believe it to be bullous impetigo due to the lab results. And she is improving daily with the antibiotics that they have given her. However, one doctor disagrees on the 4th day and calls in the 'infectious disease' doctor. Infectious disease doctor comes in and asks for her history.

Was she around anyone infectious?- no
Does she have brothers or sisters? -no
Does she go to day care?- no
Did she have a fever?- no
Did she act sick?- no

He calls her case a "curious" one. He leaves to make a phone call, comes back and says that she is getting better on her own. The antibiotics aren't doing the healing, she is. Her body recognizes that it isn't well and that it is trying to heal it. He says that the lab results showed so little amounts of bacteria that it couldn't be an infection. It also couldn't be an infection because infections tend to spread and don't recognize borders. Maia's redness has stayed within the bounds that it broke out in. The doctor then asks Joe to send his doctor friend some pics that we had taken to show the progress of Maia. The doctor wants a second opinion from his friend who is the smartest guy he knows. The doctor thinks that Maia had a chemical reaction with something. The only thing Joe and I can think of is the lime/sunscreen/community pool chemicals that caused the reaction. What we can't understand is why it's not on the palms of her hands or why it's not in places where the juice ran down.

Maia was discharged yesterday from the hospital on 2 accounts (to cover their bums):

1. bollous impetigo
2. phytophotodermatitis (the chemical reaction with sunlight thing)

The 'infectious disease' doctor is still curious about Maia's case. He asked if we'd be willing to go up to his office in Orange to see him. Joe sent the pictures off to his friend and we haven't heard back yet.

Maia is doing great. Not once did she act sick or have a high fever. She was always happy and energetic. She was bummed that she couldn't use her hands (they were wrapped up to protect her blisters) and her arm that was taped to a splint to hold her IV in place. She was a good sport though and never gave up. She learned how to pick up her toys with both hands and even learned how to throw them with both hands.

With each new trial we look for lessons and blessings. We knew that our prayers and the prayers of our family and friends were heard and answered. We were very blessed by the service of our family members and friends. What a great example that was for us. Another blessing is that we don't have to deal with pacifiers anymore! Maia has been broken of the habit since she wasn't able to use them. We are grateful for good doctors and healthcare. We are grateful most of all that Maia is healthy and happy. We are also grateful that we were able to focus only on Maia for 5 days and not worry about what the house looked like, what was for dinner, what bills needed to be paid, what was rotting in our refrigerator, how many loads of laundry needed to be done, what was going on at work, etc. (I get to do that today.) We got a chance to play with her and hold her and rock her to sleep and entertain her for 5 days in one room.