Life in the sick lane

I haven't updated in a bit. We've been fairly busy, with my time being consumed with grading and prepping for classes and our weekends getting things done. However, the last three weeks have been full of sick days, hospital stays, and ER visits. Not fun!

L got a cold around MLK holiday, and then about a week and a half ago, he developed some blisters on his mouth, hand, and foot. He had what appeared to be a slight case of hand-foot-mouth disease. Over the weekend of the 7th, he had no appetite and was barely eating or drinking. Slowly, though, he got better, his appetite came back, and ... he got a stuffy/runny nose and some coughing. It wasn't bad enough, so when the dr cleared him to go back to daycare on Thurs (2/12), we took him back; I could tell, though, that something was up because he was very clingy. But I never in a million years thought that it would take us to the ER! (more on that in a bit...).

In the meantime, J hasn't been feeling well for over 3 wks. He went to the dr, and got some bloodwork done, but all was inconclusive. Meanwhile, he was still feeling ill with chills, fever, fatigue, headaches, and nausea. On Fri (2/13) I threatened to take him to the ER Sat if he didn't get any answers from the dr. Well, the dr said the ER was the way to go so Fri around noon he made his way to the ER thinking he'd be in for a few hrs, they'd run some tests, tell him what was up and send him home. Nope! They admitted him and he's still there! They're not sure what's wrong and we've gone over best case (viral infection) and worst case (lymphoma). They're pretty sure it's NOT the worst case but it's still scary to think that it's still on the tables. They haven't been able to say what exactly is going on and meanwhile he's still getting fevers and chills and fatigue. So Fri night I went over the the hospital and stayed with him while my mom stayed home with L.

Sat I came home for a few hrs and then went back to the hospital, but seeing that he was going to remain there (we were hoping to get discharged on Sat), and on speaking with one of the nurses, I decided to come home and get some sleep so that I could be of use on Sun (no use all 3 of us being sick!). Well, I think that was God's way of making sure nothing happened to L. We all went to sleep hoping for a good night's rest. At 2:15 am my mom came frantic to my room with the baby in her arms because he was dry-heaving. She thought he couldn't breathe and was choking; he was actually throwing up massively. In her panic, and in me trying to calm her down and shake off my drowsiness, I grabbed the baby, but as I walked with him towards the room to assess the situation, I slipped on his vomit on the floor and took a nasty fall. Thankfully, I was able to spare L any of the impact; I am now wearing a nice multi-colored bruise on my leg and a small scrape on my arm. Badges of courage.

Anyway, after that scare, L was still throwing up every 10-15 min, so I called the doctor's answering service. I had to call THREE TIMES to finally get a call back almost TWO HOURS LATER! I was livid, and you better believe the office is going to hear about that! I was thisclose to calling 911, although I knew it really wasn't that much of an emergency - but he wouldn't stop throwing up. Once they finally called me, around 4ish in the morning, I was told to take him to the ER. Great. So my mom and I gathered everything, Tupperware container and paper towels included, and headed to the nearest children's ER.

Well, as if that wasn't bad enough, as soon as we stepped out, we were blanketed by a dense cover of fog. I could barely see five feet in front of me! Driving in that kind of fog at those wee hours of the morning on a Sun morning was not my idea of a fun drive at all - it was downright scary! If I don't have to do that ever again, I'll be a happy woman. But we made it, in one piece, and five hours later, a couple more sessions of vomit, and a shot to stop the vomiting, we were discharged. He was diagnosed with some sort of stomach virus, and we were told of the lovely possibility of Mr. Diarrhea coming to join Ms. Vomit. Lovely. But, this was L's first official trip to the ER and his first time vomiting or with the stomach flu. Gotta include that in his list of firsts!

I am very thankful, though, that the chain of events happened the way they did. If I had not decided to come home to sleep, if L hadn't woken up earlier and my mom hadn't put him in bed with her, the outcome could've been a lot scarier. L didn't start throwing up until my mom picked him up. If he'd remained laying down, he could've choked - a VERY scary thought for me... God is great!

And the icing on the cake is that all of these happenings occurred on the 1st anniversary of my father's passing. J went into the ER exactly a year after my dad was taken to the ER for his stroke, and on V-day (Sat), we marked the year since he passed away. I don't really know what to make of all that, but that was the weekend.

On another note, L is growing and talking like crazy. He says so many words and understands so much. He loves his bath time, Go, Diego, Go!, Mickey Mouse (he actually says, ma mao), and books. He is one big book worm! I love it! :)