I immediately called the pediatrician office since it was close to 5pm hoping they could see us still right away. The emergent nurse was great and helped talk me through the situation. After applying a wash cloth to the ear for 10 minutes the bleeding appeared to stop. The nurse indicated I should call the ENT at Duke for further instructions since Greensboro Peds was closed for the day. I called and spoke to the ENT on call at Duke. Dr. Miller said it sounded like she may have just had some blood in there from surgery and pressure may have built up and released the blood. He said if it returned to call back but in the meantime give her Motrin for pain relief. I gave her Motrin and she lay in bed cooing and playing until she fell asleep. She slept about 20 minutes before waking me with a shrill scream cry. I returned to her crib to find a small pool of blood under her left ear the size of a nickel. It was still bleeding. I called the ENT back immediately and he informed me to get her to the nearest pediatric ER to be seen. This is Moses Cone Hospital so we loaded up and headed that direction.
They got us in almost immediately and the doctor in the pediatric ER came in within the 1/2 hour of our arrival. She was very concerned because she could see the tube in her right ear but the left ear seemed covered by blood. So she had a nurse come in and they suctioned out the blood from her ear with a catheter so she could get a better view. Unfortunately, the blood began to fill the ear canal within minutes of suctioning it out. This was not a good sign. Her ear drum looked "funny" according to the doctor and the tube was no where to be found at this point. The doctor contacted Dr. Miller at Duke to get an idea of what would be best for Kyleigh.
At around 9pm the doctor came in to tell me that Kyleigh needed to be seen at Duke by the ENT doctors there and it would be best to have them conduct a CT scan at Duke to look for the tube and be prepared for taking care of any repairs needed. The policy is when transferring a child from one hospital to another the patient must go by EMS. So an ambulance was called for transporting Kyleigh from Moses Cone to Duke on Thursday night. Thankfully, our friend Kristen was there with me and was able to help me call Dennis to tell him to prepare for the trip. Then Kristen went and spent the night with Kaitlyn so we wouldn't have to wake her from sleep. Dennis headed for Duke and I waited patiently for the EMS. The EMS didn't show until 11:30. We were loaded in the ambulance and on the road by 11:50 and within 30 minutes we were pulling into the Duke Emergency Room parking lot. Wow--talk about a fast drive.
Backing up a little in the story, I had to go to my car to get the car seat base for the travel in the ambulance so that she would be as safe as possible. The parking lot at Moses Cone is SCARY at 11:40 at night. A man was leaning on the hood of my car as I approached the parking lot. I hit my alarm button and he staggered up and away to a few cars down. I was petrified but on a mission to get the carseat out of my car and back to my baby girl that needed me. Needless to say it all turned out fine but whoa---I was so nervous.
Dennis was at Duke when we arrived. We were taken straight to the pediatric ER and the ENT doctor met us there to look in her ear. He had to suction out more blood and use a special tool that located the tube in her left ear. Kyleigh was screaming and crying and it was tearing my heart apart with each cry. The doctor stopped the examination and determined it would be best to admit her to the hospital for the night and schedule an exam under anesthesia and prep for surgery in the morning. So we began the long journey of watching her get an IV and prep for staying the night. We were in the ER until past 4 am until finally transferred to a room upstairs on the children's floor. We arrive to our room and of course they have to examine Kyleigh and we had paperwork to complete. It was almost 6 am before we were left alone to lay down on the small chair that pulls out for a bed. Kyleigh was not resting well at all. I was up and down every 5 minutes. Finally around 7am they gave her morphine in her IV for pain and she settled down. We were able to get a few moments of rest, not real sleep because it was not possible. Then the doctors came in on their morning rounds to check her. They said they would be back to take her to surgery soon.
Around 9am the doctor that did the tubes on Wednesday came in after being alerted that Kyleigh was admitted to the hospital. He came in and examined Kyleigh's ear and said the blood there and he could see the tube and it looked in the appropriate spot. The blood was a clot that is behind the ear drum and around the tube. He said that given another antibiotic ear drop and time the blood clot will dissolve and she will be fine. This means be prepared to see more blood come out of her ear at some point and time. Until then we will see the doctor again on August 5th for a recheck at the Cleft Palate team review. If she begins running a fever or has prefuse bleeding then we should call immediately. The surgery was postponed and we were discharged by 11 am and heading home.
Such an exhausting 24 hours but so thankful that it is only a blood clot and not a perforation of the ear drum or a problem that would cause future harm for her hearing. During the day on Friday Kaitlyn stayed with Kristy and Kaitlyn. We had so many friends call and send messages of hope and prayers. We thank everyone for standing by our side when times get tough. It means so much to know we have people we can count on. I only hope that Kyleigh continues to move past this moment and her ear continues to heal.
Of course the thing I learned the most is you can't assume that any procedure is going to be "easy" when it comes to my little girls!
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