Christian Webster

While on vacation out of the country- 7 day cruise, 3 day visit in Sweden, Christian got very sick. He started off with a fever between 103-104 that we could not lower with either Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Later that same day, Christian started to limp and use the walls or other things to hold onto when walking. We visited the doctor on the boat who did an exam and told us that Christian had a sprained ankle and a virus and the best thing to do would be to continue the Tylenol and Ibuprofen and just wait it out. By the next day, Christian was no longer walking and seemingly in a lot of pain. After another day or two, we returned to the doctor on the boat and they said the same thing. Parental instincts got the best of us and we took Christian to the hospital when we docked in Stockholm, Sweden.

Upon arrival at the Emergency Department, Blood and Urine tests were collected and a physical examination was done. The doctor discovered that it was not his ankle that had been bothering him but rather his hip. That night we were admitted with the suspected diagnosis of Septic Arthritis. Christian underwent an X ray and two different ultrasounds of his hip (12 hours apart to monitor the inflammation and fluid in the hip socket). Christian was immediately started on the typical round of IV antibiotics for fighting Septic Arthritis and eventually got to take an Ambulance transfer to the Swedish Hospital where he was scheduled for his first surgery.

While at the children's hospital, the infection continued to rise and Christian underwent two more surgeries. The cultures taken from the first surgery were lost, and arrived the same day as the second cultures. The first set of cultures came back to say that the infection in the hip was STAPH infection. Christian was switched to a new IV antibiotic but was only on it for one dose before the results from the second surgery came back and told us that it was actually MRSA that was in the hip bone and joint. Christian was once again switched to different antibiotics and moved into isolation. We continued with IV antibiotic treatment and physical therapy and play therapy for the duration of our stay in Sweden. In order to get Christian stable for travel, he had to undergo a blood transfusion.

Traveling was a nightmare as we had 2 days of canceled flights and had to find a local hospital at our layover location to have enough antibiotics to get us to our final destination at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The ambulance picked up Christian and I (Diane) at the airport and took us straight to the hospital. Shaman was unable to get on the same flight and had to fly into Louisville and meet up with us a couple hours later.

We had been in contact with the doctors here while we were abroad, but because of insurance we had to be admitted through the Emergency Department before moving up onto the inpatient floor.

Since being admitted here, Christian has had two MRIs, multiple x-rays, and four surgeries. The doctors here discovered a yeast infection in addition to the MRSA that he is taking an addition IV medication for. The last cultures we received back showed growth of 3 additional bacteria. We are waiting cultures from his latest surgery to see if they were contaminants or if he will need additional antibiotic treatment for these as well.

Anyone who knows Christian knows how active and high spirited he is. It has been a difficult road watching him loose a large amount of his skills. Before he got sick, he was 90% potty trained, he was saying 10-15 words, he was able to sit, crawl, stand, walk, run and climb. Unfortunately we have lost many of these skills. We have a long journey to health ahead of us. We appreciate you following our journey and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.