There is no test for Kawasaki's Disease; the sympotoms are quite distinct to the disease. Similarly, there is no treatment for the disease itself, just a treatment to mitigate the effects of the disease. For a complete description, you can google it or check out this site.
The long and the short of it is that God's timing is perfect. the right people were in the right place at the right time to properly diagnose and deal with Deborah's illness. Had we gone to the doctor any sooner, a correct diagnosis would not have been possible because she was not exhibiting enough of the characteristic sympotms for diagnosis. Had we waited and gone later, her risk of long term repercussions would be much greater. God is good!
Late Thursday afternoon( January 27, 2011) , we were admitted to UMC Women's and Children's Hospital so that Deborah could be monitored while recieving the IVIG and large doses of baby aspirin which are the recommended course of medications to minimize the damage that can be caused by Kawasaki's. Both treatments have their potential risks, but are the only treatment at this time to treat Kawasaki's.
Armed with the tv remote and the nurse's call button Deborah was ready for just about anything.
After some IV fluids to rehydrate Deborah, her treatment included 4 bottles of the IVIG to "boost" her immune system and large doses of baby aspirin (6, 81 mg tabs to be taken every six hours). She handled the medications and the frequent monitoring without a problem. The oral dose of aspirin administered in the middle of the night that necessitated waking her up was more of a challenge, but Dan and the nurse managed to help her through.
Since I am still nursing Rachael, I went home to sort things out with the kids there and give everyone assurances for Deborah's recovery and sustenance for Rachael that night and the next morning before returning to the hospital. Thank You Grandma Suzanne for providing meals and being available to the family during this time; you and Grandpa Jim are a consistent blessing in our lives!
Once Deborah had recieved the IVIG and no longer ran a fever, we were waiting on an echocardiogram to be performed before we could head home. At the time, we thought that the test 
was to check for damage from the Kawasaki's, but we have since learned that it had two purposes. 1) it serves baseline for the cardiologist to compare to in 8 weeks when we return and 2) serves to check for any pre-existing issues Deborah might have had that would complicate her recovery. Once the test results were back, we were headed home!
We continue to medicate with a single dose of baby aspirin each day to keep the blood thinned but other than that it is a waiting game. All we can do is encourage her rest, eat, drink, and recover. The disease can take a long time (some sources say as long as 12 weeks) to run it's course, but I am thankful that we can weather it at home. In 8 weeks we go in for another echocardiogram and any further treatment will be determined then.
The long and the short of it is that God's timing is perfect. the right people were in the right place at the right time to properly diagnose and deal with Deborah's illness. Had we gone to the doctor any sooner, a correct diagnosis would not have been possible because she was not exhibiting enough of the characteristic sympotms for diagnosis. Had we waited and gone later, her risk of long term repercussions would be much greater. God is good!
Late Thursday afternoon( January 27, 2011) , we were admitted to UMC Women's and Children's Hospital so that Deborah could be monitored while recieving the IVIG and large doses of baby aspirin which are the recommended course of medications to minimize the damage that can be caused by Kawasaki's. Both treatments have their potential risks, but are the only treatment at this time to treat Kawasaki's.
Armed with the tv remote and the nurse's call button Deborah was ready for just about anything.After some IV fluids to rehydrate Deborah, her treatment included 4 bottles of the IVIG to "boost" her immune system and large doses of baby aspirin (6, 81 mg tabs to be taken every six hours). She handled the medications and the frequent monitoring without a problem. The oral dose of aspirin administered in the middle of the night that necessitated waking her up was more of a challenge, but Dan and the nurse managed to help her through.
Since I am still nursing Rachael, I went home to sort things out with the kids there and give everyone assurances for Deborah's recovery and sustenance for Rachael that night and the next morning before returning to the hospital. Thank You Grandma Suzanne for providing meals and being available to the family during this time; you and Grandpa Jim are a consistent blessing in our lives!
Once Deborah had recieved the IVIG and no longer ran a fever, we were waiting on an echocardiogram to be performed before we could head home. At the time, we thought that the test 
was to check for damage from the Kawasaki's, but we have since learned that it had two purposes. 1) it serves baseline for the cardiologist to compare to in 8 weeks when we return and 2) serves to check for any pre-existing issues Deborah might have had that would complicate her recovery. Once the test results were back, we were headed home!We continue to medicate with a single dose of baby aspirin each day to keep the blood thinned but other than that it is a waiting game. All we can do is encourage her rest, eat, drink, and recover. The disease can take a long time (some sources say as long as 12 weeks) to run it's course, but I am thankful that we can weather it at home. In 8 weeks we go in for another echocardiogram and any further treatment will be determined then.
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