Anyone Else Experienced This?

My daughter had cellulitis on her face from a mosquito bite a few months ago. I took her to the doctor and he put her on antibiotics. Her face contiued to swell and the next moring the whole side of her face was swollen you could hardly even see her eye. We immediately took her to the ER and they had her on IV antibiotics for two days. They said when there is an infection on the face like that you can't mess around because it could easily spread and cause vision problems and even effect the brain if not taken care of right away.

If I remember correctly, my brother got "acute cellulitis" when he was about 10 yrs old. He was on the school bus and was riding in the spot where the hump is for one of the wheel wells. He was bending over and bumped his eyebrow on the hump when the bus bounced and he got a cut. A day or so later he was throwing a football around with a friend and the ball hit him in the exact spot where the cut was above his eyebrow. I shared a room with him at the time and remember waking up in the middle of the night with my brother puking like crazy. He was rushed to the hospital. I don't remember exactly how long he had to stay in the hospital, but I remember his whole face was swollen, and the hospital actually asked my mom if she had beaten him. Of course she hadn't. We have pictures of how bad he looked. Having seen what cellulitis can do, I wouldn't chance it were I in your shoes. Get to a different doctor if not the hospital to get the correct treatment!

I'd go directly to an opthamalogist. That's what I did when my eye got weird last summer -- even though it cost me much more than the family practitioner who takes my health insurance. I figure, if it's an eye, the opthalmologist is going to immediately know the answer, whereas the G.P. might just be guessing, depending on how unusual the infection is.

I would say that you need to switch doctors and take your child in to the new doctor right away, when my baby got an eye infection her doctor took it VERY seriously because a child's vision can be permanetly harmed. Also, wash all of your pillow cases in hot water with bleach, and be super careful about hand washing, it sounds like your family has been speadng the bacteria a lot if you all have the infection now! Good luck!

Hi Rachel - yes, these kinds of infections can be that aggressive. If you think that it isnt getting better or is coming back, then you should take him back to the doc right away - if you think your doc isnt being aggressive enough, then take him to a different doctor or to the ER.

The problem with these kinds of infections is that it can go the brain and cause huge problems in a very short amount of time - within a matter of hours. If he develops any fever, even a low grade one, take him to the ER right away.

When my son was 3, he had same kind of infections and this was what my doc told me to do. She put him on an eye drop antibiotic and a strong oral antibiotic - not sure what it was but it was not amoxicillin. She was very concerned about it and even called me twice the first night to make sure he was doing okay.

I had that as a kid. As you've found it, it's highly contagious. I was out of school for well over a week and on antibiotics for a very long time, I think 2 doses. That was before the Z-Pak and some of these other stronger antibiotics. I'd take him back in or even to another doctor. An opthamologist may be helpful. We go to the children's eye doctors over by Park Meadows Mall. They have a couple of different offices. The number is ###-###-####. I would think at least one doctor over there is an opthamologist. All the doctors are good, though. GL!

My son had the same infection when he was 4 or 5. He's now 16. Our doctor took it very seriously and sent us to a pediatric opthomologist. He said it was periorbital cellulitis and had to be treated aggresively with antibiotics. It can be very dangerous. If you have any concern
at all you should contact the doctor again or just go over his head.

With all due respect to MD and and our family doctors. They dont know everything. You need to get to Ophtamologist (sp?) dont mess around. You are the mamma, follow your gut!!!! I had nasty eye infection while pregnant. My OB said dont go to Primary Care, dont pass go, dont collect 200 dollars, get to good eye doc. Depending on where you live, I know Childrens Hosp has Ophthamologists for kids!!!

Rachel:

My sister got peri orbital cellulitis when she was 10 (I was 12). I do remember that it was quite aggressive and frigthtening. Her eye socket swoll up to the size of a golf ball! I also remember how painful it was for her. If you feel concerned, I would be aggressive with your pediatrician. You don't want that to come back. Though it's very treatable with antibiotics, there are some serious risks if it doesn't get treated well.

Sorry to hear you're all sick too.

Best of luck!