Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

Original poster

Exposure to meningitis

14 replies

BigBaboonBum · 25/01/2018 19:13

Hi everyone, I’m 23 weeks pregnant and my son has ‘possible meningitis’. We won’t know for another 3 days as they have to ‘cultivate’ (???) his blood to see if it’s bacterial, but we have to stay in hospital for observation.
I really don’t know what’s going on right now but as the day draws to a close it’s only just dawned on me that I’m pregnant and I’m unsure if my baby can be affected? I assume not otherwise they would have checked my eldest son?
Does anybody know at all? It hasn’t crossed my mind at all as I’ve been so focussed on my son

OP posts:

Rainbowsandflowers78 · 25/01/2018 19:17

I would ask your nurse to ask the duty dr this evening - don’t take a risk

Hope your son is ok. It sounds very stressful.

AnakinCyberwalker · 25/01/2018 19:20

Hi I'm sorry you're going through this. Are.you in hospital now? The duty nurse will help find out. It takes a couple of days to cultivate, having been through the same experience...is your son on the antibiotics drip in case it is bacterial? I hope he's ok. How old is he?

Original poster

BigBaboonBum · 25/01/2018 19:31

We’re in hospital at the moment. I told a nurse earlier that I was pregnant and she offered me toast, but i only mentioned it because I picked my son up and I squealed a little bit when my pelvis (SPD) tried to escape my body. A doctor should be around tonight to see him but I’m unsure what time yet.
He’s just turned 7, he’s been given one drip and has another one tomorrow. He’s not having the best day but he’s okay, he can’t move much as his neck is in so much pain and extremely stiff.

I assume it will be okay? I just don’t know. The first nurse earlier didn’t seem concerned but I’m not sure if she wasn’t concerned or didn’t think about it - and to be honest I didn’t think about it until now either. I’ll ask the doctor later

OP posts:

AnakinCyberwalker · 25/01/2018 20:04

You are in the best place you can be right now. I'd ask for all testing info directly from the doctor tonight, and relevant info to you/foetus for both viral and bacterial impacts. I'm assuming both variants are potentially contagious as my DS was kept in an isolation unit even after being diagnosed with viral. So you're absolutely right to be checking this. I hope your son feels better soon...if he's on ABs now then im pretty sure he'll pull through it whatever the outcome of his tests, although the abs themselves are so strong they can take a toll in some cases (the doctor should advise you about this if it applies to children of his age). I'm sorry I can't offer more help. I'm not a medic and found all the info overwhelming when we went through this when DS was a baby. I hope you are all ok.

gryffen · 25/01/2018 20:52

I went though this earlier last year when I had 5 lumbar punctures in 2 weeks due to suspected MenG - a marker on the door was to prevent pregnant staff entering due to risks etc.

Defo raise it again and loudly as needed for your own peace of mind

Original poster

BigBaboonBum · 25/01/2018 21:51

Thank you for the replies. I’m still waiting on the doctor, but apparently they will be around at some point tonight.
@AnakinCyberwalker we’re in our own room but on a children’s ward, so not entirely isolated. What kind of toll can they take? To be honest they didn’t even want to explain what they were doing at the beginning, they seemed very very reluctant to tell me they thought it was meningitis and it was only when I overheard them talking about it (again) that the doctor said yes we think it’s a possibility as he’s ticking every box on the list but we won’t know until etc etc etc... and then all they would say was he’s being treated for meningitis. I haven’t been told of any affects.
I feel like I’ve been shut away in a cupboard!

OP posts:

AnakinCyberwalker · 25/01/2018 22:30

It's years since we went through this and we were not in the UK, also DS was a baby so early on the development pathway, and because he was tiny he was given a shed load of antibiotics in case he had bacterial and it took hold. We were advised to ensure he had extra checks for hearing and some other stuff which might have been affected by the use of these ABs. It kind of doesn't matter as he simply had to have them...so you shouldn't worry, but just make sure you find out exactly whatever treatment he has and what checks, if any, you should be doing after he's all better in case anything does crop up so it can be managed. It will be fine...write everything down the doctor tells you in case you forget it as you must be knackered

Rainbowsandflowers78 · 25/01/2018 23:09

Anakin - I always thought it was the virus/bacteria itself of meningitis that could cause the hearing loss not the antibiotics used to treat it?

Original poster

BigBaboonBum · 26/01/2018 00:40

It’s 00:39 now and I’m so tired I could pass out so I’ve asked if they can leave it until morning to come in now since we are due to see them first thing anyway. We need sleep!

OP posts:

AnakinCyberwalker · 26/01/2018 04:30

Rainbowsandflowers78 sorry I just saw your post. Its related to one of the antibiotic components in DSs treatment which was an aminoglycoside (specifically vancomycin which is linked to occassional otoxicity). I think vancomycin is a standard component of the bacterial meningitis treatment in UK too (and other illnesses as well hence being able to research the discrete effect of the AB), but the doctor will obviously know what is being used and what, if anything needs to be looked out for. I must stress we never had side effects with DS but he had to be monitored for a while and it was good we had been given the information on how to do this.

OP I hope you both get some good rest.

Rainbowsandflowers78 · 26/01/2018 07:10

Anakin - thank you.
Op - hope you get some answers today. Write down your questions for ward round so you don’t forget any.

AnakinCyberwalker · 26/01/2018 21:30

Thinking of you and your DS, OP. I hope you're all moving through this as best you can.

Original poster

BigBaboonBum · 26/01/2018 22:09

Thank you. It was a pretty rough day for my son as his cannula hole became infected and sore, they didn’t notice until his arm had swollen because they had put the drip on and not noticed that it wasn’t going in the vein then it took the doctor 5 failed attempts of getting it into his other hand and he was screaming in pain - then the next doctor came in and had to put the cannula in the side of his wrist because the first doctor had made such a mess of his hand, but because the vein was a “good vein” it was spewing blood everywhere no matter how much he tightened it. It was absolutely awful and he was screaming for her to stop saying it was too painful and then asked me to get her to stop, it wasn’t normal at all it was such a botch up.
All was going okay after all this but about 20 minutes ago we noticed he has broken capillaries all over his spine now which are a new thing, the nurse said that if the spine membranes swell it causes broken capillaries... but she isn’t sure why it’s happening now instead of days ago. She doesn’t seem sure about much really. So she’s gone to write it down in his file for the next time a doctor comes .

Sorry for ranting on, just hasn’t been the best of days

OP posts:

Rachie1986 · 26/01/2018 22:14

Oh you poor thing and your poor DS. Hoping you get some answers soon. Did you get anywhere with finding out if you should be worried about the pregnancy?

Hoping you have a better night tonight x

Flip