Chicken Pox are not a joke!!!!

Last Sunday Ella had an off day. She was extremely cranky, not eating, etc.... We just put it down to teeth. Then after dinner she started throwing up. When I put her into the tub to clean her up - she fell asleep, sending off all sorts of alarm bells. I told Kev that we needed to take her to the hospital.
We took her to the General, which is closet to our house, a) because I didn't want her in the car for long while she was vomiting, and b) because I wasn't thinking straight and it didn't even occur to me to take to the children's hospital where her pediatrician is - DUH!!! I know.
They started an IV and took her for a chest x-ray. They told me that she had a double ear infection, and pneumonia. After consulting with Mac they decided that they would give her a dose of antibiotics through her IV and then transfer to Mac via ambulance. I went with her by ambulance and Kevin had to go home to relieve our neighbour. Around 1am at Mac, they told me that she was very dehydrated and had gastroenteritis (stomach flu). Keep in mind she only vomited for three hours and had no diarrhea.....They also said that she had no sign of pneumonia in her x-ray and that both ears were clear. WHAT???? Apparently pediatric chest x-rays are hard to read and they had been mistaken at the other hospital. Also nobody seemed too excited that she was only just over the chicken pox.In the meantime she was really out of it. Around 4am they told me that they would admit her and that they were just waiting for a bed upstairs.

We finally got somewhere the next morning when the pediatrician came in and actually listened to our story. (Kev was with me by then after taking the others to school). She asked us how Ella's balance was and was she still able to walk. So we put her on the floor and she couldn't even keep her balance to stand. That's when they said she possibly had acute cerebellar ataxia caused by post-varicella cerebellitis. In English that means that she had loss of balance due to swelling in her cerebellum (which is your balance center). Apparently they think that this is an auto-immune response to the chicken pox virus. She needed neurology to consult and we would go from there. It was then decided that Ella would have to have an MRI to rule anything else out. She had that done on Tuesday and after she was cleared by neurology and the pediatrician we were able to come home late Wednesday afternoon. This a condition which clears on its own, and she is already almost back to her normal self. We go to see our pediatrician on Thursday. Quite a scary time though.
Poor old Paigie Pie broke out in spots on Tuesday night, and is starting to feel much better now! Thank you so much to L for stepping in and taking the girls throughout last week so that Kevin could be at the hospital with me, and to Grandma for spending Paige's first day of spots with her!!!!
xxoo