A few days after we brought Violet home from the hospital, she started getting unusually lethargic, soon a low grade fever began. She stopped eating and had no alert periods throughout the day. In the early morning hours on Christmas Eve my husband, 2 year old daughter, myself, and my 8 day old infant came to nationwide children’s ER. I had no clue how serious Violets condition was. Immediately upon arrival the nurse rushed her back, and they began monitoring her breathing. It was determined she was aptic and would need to be intubated. I have never felt so helpless in my life. We were admitted still unsure of what was happening. They took blood for tests, and we began the waiting game. Her condition was worsening, she was unstable, and her blood pressure was crazy. The results came back and she just had a mild virus. Parechovirus is usually so mild, it is asymptomatic in adults. In infants, however can be fatal. For 5 days I watched my newborn on a ventilator, sedated, hooked up to tons of IV’s, watching her blood pressure drop and spike. She was septic at this point. All they could do was supportive care, until the virus ran its course, and hopefully she could stabilize. All the fluids caused her body to puff up so badly her eyes were swollen shut. We got some excess fluid off her and she finally stabilized enough to begin trying to get her off the ventilator. After a few trials she was extubated successfully, and was breathing on her own. Then she had to learn how to breastfeed again. We received amazing support from OT and lactation consultants as well. After a few days with a feeding tube, she finally took some on her own, and we began preparing to go home! I am hoping the doctors and nurses who treated my baby girl can see this. The nurses who cared for Violet in the PICU were amazing, and people kept asking about her. It showed that they genuinely cared, which meant the world to me! Thank you so much! We are now working on solid foods and crawling! She’s exactly where she should be developmentally, her weight is perfect…she is perfect! The staff at children’s are heroes…from the janitors to the doctors, we received respect, compassion, and quality care!

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• Name: Violet J.Violet Jarvis
• Condition(s): ECHO Virus
• Age at Treatment: 9 days
• Age Today: 12/16/20158 Years

A few days after we brought Violet home from the hospital, she started getting unusually lethargic, soon a low grade fever began. She stopped eating and had no alert periods throughout the day. In the early morning hours on Christmas Eve my husband, 2 year old daughter, myself, and my 8 day old infant came to nationwide children’s ER. I had no clue how serious Violets condition was. Immediately upon arrival the nurse rushed her back, and they began monitoring her breathing. It was determined she was aptic and would need to be intubated. I have never felt so helpless in my life. We were admitted still unsure of what was happening. They took blood for tests, and we began the waiting game. Her condition was worsening, she was unstable, and her blood pressure was crazy. The results came back and she just had a mild virus. Parechovirus is usually so mild, it is asymptomatic in adults. In infants, however can be fatal. For 5 days I watched my newborn on a ventilator, sedated, hooked up to tons of IV’s, watching her blood pressure drop and spike. She was septic at this point. All they could do was supportive care, until the virus ran its course, and hopefully she could stabilize. All the fluids caused her body to puff up so badly her eyes were swollen shut. We got some excess fluid off her and she finally stabilized enough to begin trying to get her off the ventilator. After a few trials she was extubated successfully, and was breathing on her own. Then she had to learn how to breastfeed again. We received amazing support from OT and lactation consultants as well. After a few days with a feeding tube, she finally took some on her own, and we began preparing to go home! I am hoping the doctors and nurses who treated my baby girl can see this. The nurses who cared for Violet in the PICU were amazing, and people kept asking about her. It showed that they genuinely cared, which meant the world to me! Thank you so much! We are now working on solid foods and crawling! She’s exactly where she should be developmentally, her weight is perfect…she is perfect! The staff at children’s are heroes…from the janitors to the doctors, we received respect, compassion, and quality care!