I would try ancut this down into a nice beat concise narrative, but I think that there are more interesting things to do. I've become somewhat of a reluctant epert on meningitis, since Harvey died.
This is very long and sounds quite clinical, which is how it had to be. its was simply a statement of what happened, I was trying not to colour it with emotion.
I am the mother of Harvey Charles Stevenson Baring, a little boy born on the 20th May 2001 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading. He resided at *
His birth began following a prolonged spontaneous rupture of the membranes on the 18th May. Labour was induced 48 hours later. Harvey was a full term baby and we managed a vaginal birth. Because of the length of time after my waters broke and my pyrexia towards the end of labour, there was a fear of infection. Both Harvey and myself were kept in the hospital for five days, where we were both given antibiotics.
When we brought Harvey home he was well. He was breast fed until he was six months old and he thrived. Harvey escalated from the 9th percentile on the growth charts at birth, to the 95th percentile at 34 weeks old. He was a fit and healthy baby. Harvey started at the Nursery on January 10th 2002. For three days a week my mother cared for him. The nursery kept a daily record of the children?s development and activities (these records are available). Reports from the Nursery stated that he was a very happy and contented baby and that he was developing very well. Harvey picked up a few colds but we took this as a matter of course and only went to the doctors when we felt that it was really necessary. Harvey seemed unwell on the 21st of January so I took special leave from work and the day after took him to the doctors. The doctor saw that he had an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics, which cleared up the infection very quickly. We made sure he completed the whole course of treatment.
On Monday 18th March 2002 I went to work and Harvey?s Dad, Spencer, dropped Harvey off at my parents' house, as usual. I phoned my parent?s a couple of times during the day, as usual, to check how he was doing. At around 4pm I phoned and Mum said he hadn?t eaten his lunch and he seemed unwell. I could hear him in the background and became very concerned, as he seemed to be moaning and was fretful. I suspected that he might have another ear infection. I asked my Mum if she thought he needed to see the doctor, she said she wasn?t sure so I said I would think about it and phone back. I phoned back a few minutes later and spoke to my Father. I could still hear Harvey?s moaning in the background so I decided we should make an emergency appointment at my GP's surgery. My Mother took him at 4.40pm and they saw Dr ***. He listened to Harvey's chest and took his temperature. He said it was a viral infection and assured my Mum that nothing more than Calpol was required. My Mum brought Harvey home and we gave him Calpol. This seemed to bring his fever down. He had a full meal and milk and went to bed as normal.
On Tuesday 19th March he spent the day with Spencer and his Mum. I was on a ?Fair Selection in Interviewing? course and I rang them at every break. They said he seemed to have improved a little but was off his food still. I came home at 4pm and he did seem a little better. He ate chicken cous cous and fromage frais and played peekaboo and waving games with us, and then went to bed as normal. During the night though, he woke and seemed fretful. We gave him more Calpol but he vomited twice. We were worried because he usually slept through the night. He was very sleepy the next morning, Wednesday 21st March. He usually woke at 7am but didn't do so on this day so I was quite concerned.
Normally he would have been dropped at my mother?s, but because of my concern over his restless night I asked my Mum to come over to our house to care for him. I phoned NHS Direct at this point. Spencer stayed with him until my mother arrived. I was doing some short listing for job interviews and when I phoned throughout the day my Mum said he was still sleeping. She did not give him Calpol because he was sleeping constantly. When Spencer arrived home he went to change Harvey?s nappy and saw what he thought was blood in his urine. He phoned me and I told him to immediately phone the doctor for an emergency appointment. Spencer wanted me there, so he came to pick me up with Harvey. I saw Harvey and panicked. I could see there was something seriously wrong with him. He looked blank and lifeless and he had a high fever. I said to Spencer that we should go straight to Casualty but he reassured me that we should see the GP first. We arrived at the surgery and I went straight to the receptionist to ask if we could be rushed through, which we were. Dr. saw us. She checked Harvey?s chest, ears and throat. We showed her Harvey?s nappy with the bloodstains. Seeing my distress, she seemed very worried. She indicated that she suspected that it was quite serious. She mentioned pneumonia. She told us to get Harvey home straight away and give him Calpol to bring his fever down and then to get him immediately to the Paediatric Assessment Unit at the Royal Berks. We took him home and gave him Calpol as instructed and then arrived at the Unit at approximately 18.00pm. Harvey was still very sleepy and very blank looking. A nurse monitored Harvey?s saturation levels in the waiting room. We sat reading the posters warning us about meningitis. They gave Harvey Baby Ibuprofen because he was still feverish. After about 2 hours Harvey was eventually examined. His chest ears, throat and temperature were checked and he was weighed. The first time he was weighed he poohed when I was taking him off the scales. It was very runny and everyone laughed. I was worried because as it was obviously diarrhoea. In the confusion the nurses forgot his weight so I volunteered that they should weigh him again even though I remembered that the weight was 10.8 kilos. They did a urine analysis and said it was not blood in his nappy but that it did test positive for protein. They said that when he got better we should have another test done. They said they were happy with Harvey as his temperature had come down and they sent us home as the Unit was closing at 9pm. They again concluded that this was a viral infection. We were given a letter for our GP, Dr *, which I have since read and it just said 'push fluids and manage with Calpol'. I asked about giving him more Baby Ibuprofen and they said this was appropriate and told us where we could get some. We drove to Tesco?s in Reading but they didn?t have any so we went home and tried to make do with Calpol. Harvey was still quite lifeless and lethargic. We saw that at the hospital they had forced fluids with a syringe so that he would pee and they could do their urine analysis. We decided we would do that too so that Harvey would not get dehydrated.
On Thursday 22nd March Harvey was still in exactly the same condition. I had slept by his cot all night to be there for him. I decided to stay at home with him and I phoned work and the Nursery to inform them of the situation. During the day I kept meticulous records of all fluids and Calpol given to Harvey. My Mum came over with some Baby Ibuprofen. Harvey had diarrhoea during the day and was still not feeding properly or responding to me as he usually did. In the evening I again phoned NHS Direct and from our conversation I gathered that they were very concerned about the symptoms I was describing. They told me to again try to contact the Paediatric Assessment Unit, which I did, but as there was no response I again phoned NHS Direct. In the meantime we had also phoned the emergency doctor for our GP's surgery, which that evening was Redoc. A doctor phoned back and said that this would be quite normal with a viral infection, but that we should go up and see the Redoc doctor in the Royal Berks Maternity ward.
We arrived at the Redoc surgery at about 9.30pm. The Redoc doctor did the familiar checks on Harvey?s ears, chest and throat. I told him that Harvey had been unusually sleepy since Tuesday night. He wondered whether it might be Harvey's bedtime. At this surmise I was more than a little exasperated. The doctor seemed to think that Harvey?s chest sounded a little rattly, and also, when he moved Harvey?s head, he seemed uncomfortable and he squealed quite sharply. He was about to prescribe antibiotics. I again stressed that Harvey had been sleeping for such a long time and told him about our syringe feeding of him. He decided that we had better see a paediatrician and sent us to Kempton Ward.
They took his history and carried out the usual checks. The paediatrician moved Harvey?s head back and he squealed. She managed to get a look into his mouth and concluded that his tonsils were inflamed but there was no sign of infection. I asked her whether she was sure there was no need for antibiotics and she said, no, he would not be eating because of the soreness in his throat and we should continue with fluids and Calpol. The nurse made a point of telling me that I had "turned him around" and it was good to see "a sensible mother" due to the fact that we had been forcing fluids into Harvey.
Relieved, but still not quite convinced, we took Harvey home. Again, I slept by him.
On Friday 22nd March, there was no change. Spencer stayed at home with Harvey. He was still very drowsy and not really responding to any stimulus. Spencer kept another meticulous record of all fluids and Calpol and Baby Ibuprofen given. There was no improvement in our little boy?s condition.
On Saturday 23rd March 2002, I had to go into work so my Mum came over to look after Harvey for five hours. I phoned constantly whilst at work but there was still no change. My Mum tried to reassure me that he had at least opened his eyes for a long period of time, although he did not really seem to be registering what was going on in the world around him. Spencer arrived home around 2pm and he decided to get Harvey dressed to meet me at the end of the road when I got home from work. I saw Harvey and I was very worried. He looked so very blank and pale. We measured his breathing which was very rapid at 60 breaths per minute. I phoned NHS Direct again and gave them a summary of what had been happening that week and then told them the three major things we were worried about. These were: his rapid breathing, his pale and blotchy pallor and the fact that he seemed to be scared when he was picked up. Obviously NHS Direct were worried, and they told me to phone the emergency doctor again and to say exactly what I had told them. We got to the emergency doctor as quickly as possible. This time it was Bedroc. We arrived at around 5.30pm. This new doctor was mainly concerned about the fact that these problems had been going on for such a long time and that his chest was sounding rattly. We were sent to Kempton Ward again. When we arrived there at about 17.45pm, **, the paediatric registrar, seemed irate that we had arrived when we had. She told us that she had said to Bedroc to send us at 7pm and that she hadn?t had a break for ages. I was angry but tried to retain an element of calm, informing her that we had not been told a time, just to get straight round to the ward. A nurse monitored Harvey?s saturation levels. Another, more junior doctor did the usual checks of his ears, throat and chest. We told this doctor about what had been happening all week. She tried to get Harvey to respond to her but he couldn?t and we asserted that he hadn?t been responding to us properly since Tuesday and that he seemed to react in a scared way when we moved him. She said his chest sounded clear so they wouldn?t give him an X-ray. At about 9pm they took some blood from Harvey. Whilst they were doing this work on Harvey the doctor and nurse engaged in conversations, in front of us, about the last time the staff had sat down for a break. They also informed us that the Paediatric Assessment Unit had been closed that day and they had had to take on their caseload.
We asked incessantly for them to give Harvey some Calpol because he seemed in so much pain and eventually the nurse persuaded the junior doctor that we could give him some, and they gave him 2.5mls. She insisted she had had to do a lot of persuading to get us this little bit of painkiller. A little later they decided they should do a chest x-ray. That came back clear. Around 10pm they told us they wanted to keep Harvey in overnight, just to monitor his oxygen levels, as his saturation level had been low a few hours before. Spencer and I decided that he should drive home to get Harvey some milk and Calpol. I wasn?t keen on staying in at all and I told a nurse about this. I also asked her if we could have more Calpol as Harvey still seemed in pain and scared and his breathing was getting worse. I asked her if she thought Harvey would be all right and told her of my fears. She reassured me and told me that if Harvey?s saturation levels went down in the night they would blow oxygen over him.
Within an hour or so Harvey started to deteriorate. This was around 10pm. His breathing became more laboured and he looked even more scared. I got in his cot with him. I realised he was really suffering so went to hassle the nurse, as I already had, for more Calpol. This junior doctor was apparently very cautious about giving Calpol. I persuaded the nurse he needed more so she weighed him and determined that for Harvey?s weight he actually needed 8mls of Calpol. I was relieved, but Harvey still seemed to get worse, the nurse put an oxygen mask on him and a constant monitor. Spencer and I were very scared. I looked at Harvey?s pupils and saw that they were fixed and dilated. I tried to tell the doctors and nurses but it took a while for them to pay attention to us. Eventually came back down and affirmed that his pupils were fixed and dilated and that Harvey was fitting. She instructed the nurse to get anti-fitting drugs. This seemed to take forever and I asked if I should go and see what was happening. She said yes, and that the nurses should come back to the bed so that she could go and get the right dosage herself. I ran round and the nurses said they were all right and dealing with it. Everyone was panicking. I was jumping up and down in horror. Eventually they got the anti-fitting drugs and it stopped Harvey?s fitting quite quickly. I asked ** if perhaps these were febrile convulsions and whether it might cause any lasting damage. She tried to reassure me it wouldn?t. I knew I was asking difficult questions. They then put Harvey on antibiotics and anti-virals, Harvey was now partially sedated. This was around 2am.
Harvey was taken up to Hurley Ward. He seemed to be a bit more stable but his breathing was extremely laboured. We were all absolutely exhausted. I stayed with him until 6.30am then Spencer took a turn. At around 9am Spencer thought Harvey was fitting again and he tried to get attention for him but was told there were no doctors available, and that another baby had stopped breathing on the same ward. I came through and saw that Harvey was fitting again. By this time Dr had arrived and he told me he was worried about the anti-fitting drugs and sedation interfering with Harvey?s breathing. Soon after Dr. * left it became obvious Harvey was fitting strongly. He was clearly petrified. They gave him more drugs. From then on he was fully sedated. A couple of hours later we were told he needed to be transferred to intensive care. This was about mid day on the Sunday.
Apparently his breathing now got even worse on the transfer to ICU. Harvey was put on a ventilator. He was given another chest x-ray, which was clear and a CT scan was arranged for about 13.30pm.
On Sunday 24th March we were told that Harvey might be transferred to The John Radcliffe Hospital for further treatment after the CT scan. As it happened, once the neurologists at John Radcliffe saw the scans, they said there was no hope for Harvey and no point in moving him. The brain scans revealed that all his higher brain function had now gone.
On Monday 25th March there were still more consultations with the Oxford neurologists, but eventually we were told that a brain stem test and a lumbar puncture would be carried out. Once this was done Harvey was pronounced brain stem dead at 13:45pm. After being baptised, Harvey was taken off the respirator. We stayed with him until 17:00pm