Salmonella: My Worst Enemy

Ever had a kid come up to you and say, "Mom, my stomach hurts"? Did you freak out when they did? I have and I didn't, salmonella changed that.

Several weeks back my son started complaining of a stomach ache. He had some diarrhea but nothing much else. I chalked it up to too much applesauce and called it a day. Then he had diarrhea again and again. The vomiting started and I knew we were done for.

Because I'm the greatest Mom in the world (that's a joke) I made a same-day appointment with my son's Pediatrician. "Just a virus, hang in there" they said. I started to think things were more serious than a simple virus when the next morning he starting having shrieking fits because of his abdominal pain, along with diarrhea every 15-20 minutes. Then there was blood in the poop. Back to the Pediatrician we go. "That's interesting and not exactly normal. Can you collect us some poop samples?" they said. Ever used a spoon to scoop poop and fill vials? That was a fun day.

I never knew anyone could poop so much. We're talking poop on the floor, in the bed, in the toilet and in the shower. We no kidding went through over 30 pull ups in two days. It was insane. Thankfully we got some results back quickly and learned it's something bacterial, and my son's body is not winning the fight, but we have to be super careful about administering antibiotics. Keep watching him and keep pushing fluids.

Day FOUR of non-stop screaming, abdominal pain and diarrhea we end up in the Children's Hospital ER. Lots of tests and poop samples later, we have our answer, this is Salmonella. A nasty version at that. We spend the morning getting IV fluids at the hospital and an antibiotic that's safe for combating Salmonella. THANK YOU, JESUS.

It would take two more days before the pain and diarrhea actually came to a stop. Several weeks later he's still dealing with repercussions of the bacteria in his digestive track.

That my friends, is why Salmonella is my worst enemy.

Talk soon - hopefully never about this again!