Mastoiditis

Mastoiditis is an infection of mastoid process, the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear which contains open, air-containing spaces. It is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media (middle ear infection) and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. It is treated with medications and/or surgery. If untreated, the infection can spread to surrounding structures, including the brain, causing serious complications. (taken from wikipedia)

Alyssa was admitted to the Pediatric Ward, Pantai Malacca for Mastoiditis on Saturday, 4/12/10 for 5 days. She has ear and bone infection. There is a swell behind her ear ie the temporal bone of the skull. She was given antibiotics through Intravenous (IV) therapy twice a day. Once after dinner and once at 5 am.

She was having fever and pain. On night one, the whole night nurse came in every other hour to either check her temperature or to give medicine. She did sleep throughout the night, probably was too drowsy due to medicine. But I didn't get to sleep.

In the morning the single room was available. Yeah! I probably get some sleep as I thought to myself. Well I did. Quite nice room with sofa set. She gets to order western food. She had chicken chop and fish & chips.

Alyssa did a CT scan to see if there is any abscess in the swell. If there is any abscess and swell does not subside, then she might has to go for operation. Thank God NO ABSCESS.

So after 5 days of IV, she was discharged (with all smiles) and has to continue oral medication for another 5 days.

The moral of the story is....simple flu and cough can lead to serious complication if not probably treated and given due care.