Bupa Great North Run 2014
Paul Durston is raising money for South Tees Hospitals Charity
Story
We’ve not yet shared this publicly so here goes – a bit of background:
On April 22nd 2014, after 2 unsuccessful days of antibiotic medicine, our 4 month old son was admitted to the Children’s Ward (Ward 21) at the James Cook University Hospital. He’d had a high temperature for a couple days, was very lethargic and generally wasn’t himself. From there, things went downhill quite rapidly. One day later, Max had lost his voice, was barely eating and his little body was covered in a rash. After numerous blood tests and a lumbar puncture, Max was diagnosed with viral meningitis. For the next week he received IV antibiotics three times a day and was given calpol/ibuprofen round the clock as his temperature refused to stabilise. After a week of this treatment not really making a difference, and Max developing other symptoms such as red eyes and cracked lips, the diagnosis changed to something neither Jo nor I had ever heard of – Kawasaki Disease.
Kawasaki Disease is rare in the UK, affecting around 8 in every 100,000 children under the age of 5. It is an acute childhood illness and causes an inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the body, most worryingly of the heart, and can lead to complications such as coronary aneurysms. The cause of Kawasaki Disease is unknown.
Having just about gotten used to the idea of viral meningitis, this new diagnosis was hard for Jo and I to get our heads around, even more so because there are no tests that can definitively confirm if a child has Kawasaki Disease or not. We trusted the Dr’s diagnosis – she had been dealing with Max since he arrived and knew his case well. In any case, we had to make the decision whether to go ahead with the treatment, not knowing for certain that the diagnosis was correct but knowing that any delay could increase the risk of heart problems for Max.
Once we agreed to the treatment Max was sent for an ECG and prepared for 12 hours of IV immunoglobulin overnight. It was awful to see your tiny baby so ill and hooked up to drips, heart monitors, blood pressure monitors and more. Thankfully, the next morning Max was noticeably better – the first time we’d seen any improvement at all since he was admitted. He remained in hospital for another week, during which time his temperature stabilised, his rash disappeared and he started to behave more like his normal self. Max now had to have aspirin four times a day, as well as ranitidine (to protect his stomach from the aspirin). Strangely he seemed to like the chalky aspirin and lapped it up! After just over 2 weeks in hospital, during which time Jo and I did not leave his bedside, Max came home.
Since that time Max (now 6 months old) has had two heart scans and more blood tests, all of which (thankfully) appeared normal. At the time of writing Max has been discharged by the Cardiologist and we are awaiting formal diagnosis/plan of action from the Paediatric Consultant.
The care and attention to detail from the Dr looking after Max was outstanding. Had she not had a feeling that this may be Kawasaki Disease who knows how things might’ve turned out. We’re just thankful it was diagnosed and seemingly treated early enough so, as far as we know, no permanent damage occurred. The staff on Ward 21 were also very good when dealing with Max. Spending a fortnight on the Ward you get to see how hard everybody works and how manic it can get at times. You also get to see lots of other sick children. That’s why I’m doing the Great North Run – to give something back to the Ward who helped look after Max. Maybe the money raised will help buy some more toys for the poorly children, help with the stock of baby milk, or provide tea/coffee facilities for the parents – nothing major in the grand scheme of things but I’m sure every little helps.
Those of you who know me may think I run a half marathon every weekend – wrong! I’ve never ran anywhere near this distance before. I do the local Park Run most weekends but that’s 5km on a flat course. The Great North Run is over 21km and not flat so this is definitely going to be a challenge for me!
Any money I raise will be split between Ward 21 (Children’s Ward) at the James Cook University Hospital and the Kawasaki Support Group UK - http://www.kssg.org.uk/ - who provides support for children and their families affected by Kawasaki Disease whilst also working to raise awareness of Kawasaki Disease. As Jo and I found out – there is not a lot of information out there about Kawasaki Disease and the work this group do in supporting people is invaluable.
So when I’m out training at 6am or when I’ve hit the wall during the Great North Run I’ll just try and remember why I’m doing it. Running 13.1 miles is nothing compared to the hand some people are dealt.
Thank you very much for reading our story.
Paul, Jo and Max
On April 22nd 2014, after 2 unsuccessful days of antibiotic medicine, our 4 month old son was admitted to the Children’s Ward (Ward 21) at the James Cook University Hospital. He’d had a high temperature for a couple days, was very lethargic and generally wasn’t himself. From there, things went downhill quite rapidly. One day later, Max had lost his voice, was barely eating and his little body was covered in a rash. After numerous blood tests and a lumbar puncture, Max was diagnosed with viral meningitis. For the next week he received IV antibiotics three times a day and was given calpol/ibuprofen round the clock as his temperature refused to stabilise. After a week of this treatment not really making a difference, and Max developing other symptoms such as red eyes and cracked lips, the diagnosis changed to something neither Jo nor I had ever heard of – Kawasaki Disease.
Kawasaki Disease is rare in the UK, affecting around 8 in every 100,000 children under the age of 5. It is an acute childhood illness and causes an inflammation of the blood vessels throughout the body, most worryingly of the heart, and can lead to complications such as coronary aneurysms. The cause of Kawasaki Disease is unknown.
Having just about gotten used to the idea of viral meningitis, this new diagnosis was hard for Jo and I to get our heads around, even more so because there are no tests that can definitively confirm if a child has Kawasaki Disease or not. We trusted the Dr’s diagnosis – she had been dealing with Max since he arrived and knew his case well. In any case, we had to make the decision whether to go ahead with the treatment, not knowing for certain that the diagnosis was correct but knowing that any delay could increase the risk of heart problems for Max.
Once we agreed to the treatment Max was sent for an ECG and prepared for 12 hours of IV immunoglobulin overnight. It was awful to see your tiny baby so ill and hooked up to drips, heart monitors, blood pressure monitors and more. Thankfully, the next morning Max was noticeably better – the first time we’d seen any improvement at all since he was admitted. He remained in hospital for another week, during which time his temperature stabilised, his rash disappeared and he started to behave more like his normal self. Max now had to have aspirin four times a day, as well as ranitidine (to protect his stomach from the aspirin). Strangely he seemed to like the chalky aspirin and lapped it up! After just over 2 weeks in hospital, during which time Jo and I did not leave his bedside, Max came home.
Since that time Max (now 6 months old) has had two heart scans and more blood tests, all of which (thankfully) appeared normal. At the time of writing Max has been discharged by the Cardiologist and we are awaiting formal diagnosis/plan of action from the Paediatric Consultant.
The care and attention to detail from the Dr looking after Max was outstanding. Had she not had a feeling that this may be Kawasaki Disease who knows how things might’ve turned out. We’re just thankful it was diagnosed and seemingly treated early enough so, as far as we know, no permanent damage occurred. The staff on Ward 21 were also very good when dealing with Max. Spending a fortnight on the Ward you get to see how hard everybody works and how manic it can get at times. You also get to see lots of other sick children. That’s why I’m doing the Great North Run – to give something back to the Ward who helped look after Max. Maybe the money raised will help buy some more toys for the poorly children, help with the stock of baby milk, or provide tea/coffee facilities for the parents – nothing major in the grand scheme of things but I’m sure every little helps.
Those of you who know me may think I run a half marathon every weekend – wrong! I’ve never ran anywhere near this distance before. I do the local Park Run most weekends but that’s 5km on a flat course. The Great North Run is over 21km and not flat so this is definitely going to be a challenge for me!
Any money I raise will be split between Ward 21 (Children’s Ward) at the James Cook University Hospital and the Kawasaki Support Group UK - http://www.kssg.org.uk/ - who provides support for children and their families affected by Kawasaki Disease whilst also working to raise awareness of Kawasaki Disease. As Jo and I found out – there is not a lot of information out there about Kawasaki Disease and the work this group do in supporting people is invaluable.
So when I’m out training at 6am or when I’ve hit the wall during the Great North Run I’ll just try and remember why I’m doing it. Running 13.1 miles is nothing compared to the hand some people are dealt.
Thank you very much for reading our story.
Paul, Jo and Max