Orbital Cellulitis- Eye Infection

Written By: Carrie B.

Orbital Cellulitis- aka a really really bad eye infection!!! Seriously, I thought that I had seen it all. Nothing prepared me for what was going to happen the morning I woke up and my new one month old had his eye all matted up.



I thought that it was a cold in his eye or one of the other kids poked him in the eye and it was a little bacterial infection. I just thought I would wait it out and see what happened. As the day went on, the worse it got. By 5 pm his eye was swollen shut. I called his pediatrician and she told me to rush him to Urgent Care. After a long wait in the waiting room, they moved us to an examination room. The doctor came in, examined him, and then began to pry his eye open. Puss oozed out of his eye, I thought I was going to pass out. Between my tears and shock, I called my husband back there. The doctor told us we had to get him to Cook Children's Hospital to be admitted. She said he needed to be checked for menengitis. I lost it right there in urgent care. They started poking him with needles for an IV of antibiotics.

Once we got to the hospital it was a long night in the ER. They were poking his eye with q-tips, they did a ct scan, and the worse possible, they did a spinal tap on him. The ER doctor pulled me aside and started asking if I had any sexually transmitted diseases. I went ape all over that man, after everything we had just been through, I was not prepared for all that. Keep in mind it was 2 am, I was so tired!! He told me it was routine questions, but naturally I took offense.

Finally at 3 am we were put in a room...isolation!!!! I am grateful for those doctors and nurses, but at the time, it was like prison. We were there for 3 days. All the tests came back negetive for menengitis, but he was diagnosed with orbital cellulitis. It starts out with a crusty eye and then leads to swelling and redness. It may result in an ear infection too. My son Wyatt had a double ear infection to boot.

Later they told me that if it had gone on any longer untreated, he could have lost sight in that eye. Thank God I acted on my motherly instinct. God is good to take care of all His children no matter what age.