A hospitalisation

One thing I enjoy about hospitalisation is that it gives me time to read and relax. So after the initial tension - partly that of staying in a hospital room and partly that of creating more disarray in the situation at home - when the doctor advises a hospital stay, I look forward to some rest and relaxation. Though with a little boy in distress or discomfort, it is not easy.
Most of Ashwin's hospitalisations earlier - five so far, I think - have been for gastro-enteritis and related digestive problems that eczematic people suffer from. (But V's week-long stay in hosp with the broken leg had given me the best rest - plenty of time to read and sleep, though we worried quite a bit about how his leg would fare.)

Ash was admitted in hospital on April 2 following a bad flare-up of eczema. I suspect it was caused by the biriyani and chicken we dared to give him from a restaurant last Sunday when b-il and co. were around.
By Tuesday, his skin was beginning to look worrying. So on Wednesday, we took him to Dr. Maya Vedamurthy, a dermatologist in Apollo hospital,whom many had advised me to try out. She suggested that Ash be put on cyclosporin 4 mg/kg (after consulting the paediatrician at Apollo) because his whole body was broken and oozing, and she didnt think it wise to let him suffer. He itched so badly that night inspite of the antibiotics (we didnt give the oral steroid she advised), he didnt sleep until about 4 am when we gave him a bath with a pinch of bleaching powder as advised by Dr. Maya. A spoon of bleaching powder in a bucket of water helps to minimise the itching, she had said.
By the next day when we went to check with his regular paediatrician Dr. Thomas about giving him the steroids and the immunosuppressant, his condition had got so bad that he developed swelling on his legs and severe pain near the hip where the skin had cracked and got infected. For a child who takes his ailment stoically, Ash cried a lot in pain when I touched his lower back or tried to make him stand.The paed and the dermatologist there decided cyclosporin would be the best way out for Ash, and to treat him as an inpatient for the infection.
By the second day, the oral steroids and antibiotics began to work - the cracked skin began to heal and the itching reduced. Ash loved his first day in hospital because he had Pogo to watch and many of V's friends and colleagues visiting him, but by the second night he was bored and insisted on going home. Mira missed me and Ash very badly, and sobbed to sleep each night. She spent a good part of the second day in hospital with her brother while V divided his time between hospital and office.
He was discharged on Saturday, since we requested the dr to postpone cyclosporin treatment for a later date, say 2 months later, after his summer vacation in Kerala. We hope the cleaner environment, (I wont say cool climate as I am told Kerala is hotter than Madras this year) grandparental care, diet and ayurveda will do good. If his condition continues to be bad even after, we have to start him on cyclosporin in June.
Right now, he is looking much better. The dead, wrinkled dark skin has all peeled off to reveal fresh soft skin and a shining face. But the steroids are for a week only, and I dread to think what will happen after that.
The doctor tells us not to worry abt the side effects of cyclosporin, it isn't harmful like steroids. The pead is not the kind who gives any drastic treatment, so I guess Ash's condition warrants it.
Meanwhile, members from our church and the parson came home to see Ash this weekend. One of them has advised us to meet Dr. Narayanamurthy, a dermatologist, for a second opinion.
p.s. I didnt manage to read much this time.