Kawasaki arimas

The consultant doctor have no doubts that XX's symtoms satisfies the criteria of Kawasaki. The only 'problem' is, XX's fever have subsided. This means that the inflammation is no longer present, which by right should be good news. However, this makes the issue of treatment more tricky. The doctors have to decide if IVIG (Intravenous Immunogoblin) is still needed. Though considered generally safe in Singapore, IVIG is nevertheless a blood product, thus there will be the usual risks of blood contamination (HIV, Hep C etc) involved. Still, the benefits far outweigh the risks, because if left untreated, Kawasaki can lead to coronary and heart problems.

Till this morning, the doctor is still unsure of whether to administer IVIG. She ordered an 'Echo' for XX, which involves scanning the heart. The Echo scan shows some dilation of XX's blood vessels, which is not a good sign. Guess this seals the fate and provided a definitive direction for the treatment using IVIG.

Thus, for the 2nd time today, XX had his nap interrupted and was carried from his bed to insert the intravenous cannulas in preparation for the IVIG. Without doubt, XX doesn't welcome this invasion and I can hear him screaming the house down inside the treatment room. As a matter of fact, all children whose goes into that 'slaughter room' scream their heads off. Thankfully, this time round, the doctor was rather quick and about 10 mins later, XX came out with his 'bionic arm' in place. To cheer him up and for being such a brave boy, Daddy bought him Milo ice-cream as a reward.

17 gm of IVIG is to be given to him (2 gm for every kg of his weight) and it is to be infused over 14-15 hours. I wonder how we're gonna keep him staying in bed for such a long period.......it's gonna be a long night ahead :-(