Sick Day for Joss

Joss didn't eat last night. We chalked it up to his finicky nature. This morning he proved us wrong in a big way - by regurgitating breakfast all over Mommy! This is what he looked like this morning:

If you're wondering, this was Joss' tub when he came home from the hospital. By midday, though, he was feeling much better. Begging for crackers and cookies. I walked out of the room, and came back to fine him like this:

Jossence of Arabia! I hope we're done with sickness for a while.

Poor sick Paul.

(From June 17, 2010)

Paul woke up with a high fever. We took him downstairs, gave him Motrin and Tylenol (not the recalled batch), set him up on the couch with a pillow, many blankets, and Annie.

He took a drink of water, held out the cup, and asked for "different water." Why do you want different water, Paul? "Water hurt throat." Ooooh, poor thing.

It was viral, not bacterial, so it took a few days to pass. Poor Paul.

Sick Paul Recovery

Paul had a fever Wednesday and Thursday. By Friday, he was doing better, but still not at 100%. He climbed up on the couch, asked for a pillow and his blankets, and begged to watch Annie. He actually watched quietly for about an hour.
Then the lion went on the prowl. . .

In the afternoon, we finally got outside for some fresh air and sunshine. Paul loves drawing on the driveway with chalk.

Yay! Daddy's home!

Harrowing Holiday Weekend

Some people like to spend a 3-day weekend doing things like skiing, visiting family, home improvement projects. We have emergencies.

Paul was diagnosed with ITP, or Immune thrombocytopenic purpura. Wikipedia describes it pretty well.

I described the experience in a Facebook post:
We noticed that he had a lot more bruising than usual on his legs and arms a few days after spiking a fever. The next day he was covered with little broken blood vessel marks - kind of like a rash without any bumps. Shawn took him to the pediatrician, who thought it would be this diagnosis, but didn't know to what degree. He ran a full blood panel, and we got a call to hit the ER ASAP.

Once in the ER, they started an IV line and ran another blood panel, and counted his platelets. Normal range is 150-200k. Paul's was about 4K. So, he was admitted, administered an IV drug regimen, and we just have wait and see how he reacts.

Luckily, Paul reacted phenomenally to the treatment (IVIg, for those watching at home), and by this morning his platelet counts had more than tripled. Paul was discharged by the afternoon, and was thrilled to be reunited with Hippo, Elephant, and his stickers.

We need to go back to the hospital tomorrow or Wednesday for another blood screen to make sure his counts continue to rise. Then, we will need to have weekly blood tests (most often at a local hospital) for several months, as it is normal for counts to dip after a month or two, then rise again. After than, we'll probably still monitor his counts with monthly tests for a while. Thanks to his age and that this is immune and not idiopathic, chances for a complete recovery with no remission are very, very high.

We are thankful for the outpouring of support and well-wishes we've received from friends and family, and feel blessed that we got to take our child home after only two days on the children's hematology/oncology floor. We left many other children behind who had been there for weeks before us, and will remain for weeks after today.


Here's Paul catching a little shut eye with his Daddy after a grueling night in the ER:

Mommy and Daddy may have been stressed to near breaking point, but Paul seemed to love the hospital experience. He got to eat in bed, have Froot Loops and as many apple juice boxes as he could chug, plenty of pretty nurses and doctors to flirt with, watch hours and HOURS of Blue's Clues and other cartoons. So what if occasionally someone wanted to "give his leg a hug" (take blood pressure), make his toe glow (pulse-ox meter), or take a little blood? What price that for JUICE BOXES and BLUE'S CLUES?!?!?!?

Double Ear Infection - #2 of 2009

Paul kindly passed his virus on to Mommy, and upgraded himself to a double ear infection. This is his second of 2009, for those of you at home who are keeping score.

He's on antibiotics, and after 2 doses he's back to his charming, silly, nutty little self, which is a welcome relief from the Mr. Cranky Pants of the past few days.

So, today has been a difficult day. Paul woke up cool but congested and cranky. He didn't eat much breakfast, only napped about half an hour, got easily frustrated while playing, and didn't eat much lunch. We went out for a walk - it was cold but sunny - and he slept for about 20 minutes, and was kind of logy for the rest.

By the time we got home, his temp spiked to 104.8. He took Tylenol, Motrin, and lots of water. Once the medication kicked in, he had some pretzels and Nilla wafers, and played a little while. Eventually, his exhaustion turned play into frustration, so I put him in the pack and play thinking he might nap a little while. . .

I didn't realize he'd fall asleep SITTING UP. . .

Sorry for snickering on camera - it was just so funny. Don't worry, though. I (gently) tipped him over, and he got to sleep for about an hour.

Blurry boy in a chair

Waiting room at the pediatrician - Paul has a brand new virus! His ears are looking good (we'll double check before we go to Florida on Friday. . .), so no more prescription drugs - we'll just have to keep going with the street stuff. . .

Sick again, sick again, jiggidy jig.

Paul's got a fever - fever! Fever in the morning, fever when I hold him tight. Fever! kiss his keppie - fever all through the night. . .

Yup - hours after finishing a course of amoxicillin, Paul develops a 102.9 temp again. Since Shawn is on travel, I had to schlep Paul into work with me for a few hours while I got some details taken care of for my coworkers. Despite his expression, he enjoyed the half bagel and a cheese stick he ate as I made phone calls and filed.

Back to the pediatrician tonight!

More sleep, please...

...and enough with this "sick" thing, already!

WARNING: GROSS (yet still kinda cute) IMAGES!!

Paul has had a bit of a cold this weekend. . .it has been exacerbated by teething, but whatever the root cause, the "gross" effect has been snot. Lots and lots of snot. There's a booger in the sugar? No, there's not. Snot. These are a few pictures of Paul and his tenacious mucus. . .scroll if you dare. . .
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Seriously, it's gross and funny and cute, but mostly gross. . .
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OK, you were warned. . .
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Halloween: Good Idea / Bad Idea

A good idea for Halloween: Dressing as a dragon!

Paul was a little angry when Grandma Shelly stopped him from pulling things off the shelf in order to try on his costume hood. . .
. . .he had more fun trying on the whole ensemble with daddy. . .
Grr! Scary dragon!!
Paul and Daddy at the daycare mini-party (a buncha babies in cute costumes (omg - there was this little chicken costume - too cute!!) playing on the floor. . .).

A bad idea for Halloween: Vomit monster!
This is the way Paul went this year. . . When he says "trick or treat" better stand back and grab a bucket!

There are no pictures for this particular turn of costumes (you're welcome), and Paul is now resting, occasionally even comfortably.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Paul's Birthday Rampage

Paul was sick for his actual first birthday. A little virus didn't keep him from crawling through the house, getting into any and everything. . .

Oooh. . .shiny lamp. . .

. . .I wonder if I can pull it down on top of me. . .unngh. . .nope, shaky but sturdy. . .

Hmm. . .what's in this glass thingy? Perhaps a collection of breakable-type items? Anything edible?

Gotta take a break from havoc. .. how about some blocks. . .

Mommy, c'mon, I'm not feeling great - can you put away the camera?

Who has a fever, full-body rash, and probably the coxsackie virus?

This guy!!!

Gerber Zweiback - not just food, it's apparel

. . .and a great leave-in conditioner!


Don't worry - Mommy took care of the bathing, and Daddy did the drying. . .and hair styling. . .
Paul had his 9 month doctor's appointment today - he's over 28" long, about 21.1# (he's lost a little weight with this virus), with a head circumference of 18" - in the 40th, 60th, and 60th percentiles respectively.

He also still has a virus (he tested negative for strep) so we're keeping him Tylenol-ed, Motrin-ed, and as hydrated as possible. Poor baby!

In between bouts of fever - and when he's not gagging on/barfing up the medication we give him to reduce the fever - Paul gets in a little play-time. . .

Grrrrrrr

Our monkey-boy

Even sick with a miserable fever, and even at 3am, Paul manages to amuse us. Here he is trying to hold his bottle with all four hands, er, his hands and feet. . .

It's never an easy day. . .

So, Paul was sent home from daycare early yesterday due to a fever. Daddy picked him up, gave him Tylenol, and while hot, Paul acted almost normally, ate and nursed, and went to bed like usual.

This morning he was hot again, given more Tylenol, and then Paul and Daddy played nicely together all morning. Mommy came home at lunch to nurse, and Paul fell asleep for a while. . .


When he woke up, Paul had a much higher fever (105.3!). Daddy took him to the doctor, and the doctor said (no, not "no more monkeys jumping on the bed") that his blood work was boarderline, and to take him to the ER, just to be on the safe side.

Daddy called Mommy at work, and as Daddy took Paul to the ER, Mommy had a quiet freak-out, and left work early to join them.

Paul's fever broke just as he was being checked out by the ER doc (not George Clooney, but still a nice man). We were sent home with the diagnosis of a virus, and instructions to hydrate, Tylenol, and watch for developing mutant abilities.

So far so good. . .

Sick Day

Paul is feeling a bit under the weather today, so I stayed home with him.

He has an appitite, though. This is what he looked like with his first taste of apple sauce! Not his favorite...yet!

He is so tired, he fell asleep at the bottle!