Crap fest 2008

It's amazing how quickly things can change; how one day can be so very different from the next. My last post detailed our anniversary. After returning from our getaway, grandma Farnsworth informed us of the scare she'd had that night with Logan. She said she was about to call us at 2 am. to have us take Logan into the ER. (This is the point where I became a stressball-I remained such for 2 days) Logan had had a fever since Friday. It was low grade though, and we didn't worry.

Saturday morning Logan broke out in the measles-looking rash, i.e. roseola. Or so we thought......

Separate happening: Saturday morning Logan toddled from toilet to tub. I was cleaning the tub, so he could get in. There was a small puddle of water on the floor and he slipped. He smacked his eye on the edge of the tub and got a huge black eye.

His unrelenting fever began on Saturday as well. We gave him Tylenol and Motrin to keep it at bay. It kept peaking though, as soon as the meds would wear off, and Tuesday night it went up, and didn't respond to a teaspoon of motrin. Grandma put him in the tub, but it stayed around 103-104. Three hours later it came down to 101. He kept getting a 103 degree fever all day, so I took him to the doctor for a sick day visit.

I thought he would go in, they would tell us it was the elusive "virus" diagnosis, that it would pass, and we could go home. I was NOT prepared for what Wednesday consisted of.

As soon as we talked to the doctor, she, and the nurses went on "high alert" that's what I termed it in my own head. I'd never been to the doctor when they actually were concerned. She immediately swabbed his throat for strep and told me "don't leave this room." She was back in 15 minutes with the results; which were negative for strep. He had a rash everywhere, a high fever, a white-coated mouth and tongue, and a red throat with white dots.

Then the nurses came in to do the blood draws a.k.a "Mom's personal hell." There's nothing as horrible as watching someone hurt your baby. This took a while, in each arm, seeing as he was dehydrated and they couldn't find a good vein.

Then they did some nose suction a.k.a "snot sucking" test. As soon as those tests were done, doctor told us to go eat lunch and come back for the results.

When we went back the doctor went over the CBC with me. His white cells were elevated (of course) and his liver enzymes were elevated. Doctor said "they're not elevated enough to indicate hepatitis." This is when I got really scared...I know just enough about medicine to freak myself out COMPLETELY.

We were immediately sent down for a chest x-ray, to rule out pneumonia. Chest x-ray= "mom's personal hell, round 2." They strapped him in a plastic box with his arms above his head....yuck.

Chest x-ray was clear, so he got an antibiotic shot in his thigh. We were waiting in the waiting room to make sure he didn't have an allergic reaction to the antibiotic....the nurse looked at it. We went back into an exam room where the doctor gave us benadryl for an allergic reaction.

His fever came back within 20 minutes of the last motrin dose wearing off. We were still at the doctor's office; his temp. was 102.5.

We got home at 5pm. We braced ourselves for a bad night.......but it was good.

It is 8 pm on Thursday night, and he hasn't had a fever since 10:15 pm on Wednesday night. He hasn't had any Tylenol or Motrin either. Hooray! We are swabbing his mouth 4 times a day for oral thrush (the white coating all over his mouth)

We had to go back to the doc today for follow-up. They gave him another IM shot of antibiotic, which was followed by motrin for an allergic reation. BUT his fevers have not returned.

Verdict? Logan tested positive for the epstein barr virus. The doctor deduced that he has infectious mono. Logan's rash, fevers, and white coated mouth are all symptoms of mono. They suspect the high fevers were a result of a piggy-backed bacterial infection. His immune system was lessened from the virus, and then he picked something else up. He'll be on antibiotic for the next 8 days, so we are still swabbing his mouth four times a day to get rid of/prevent thrush (oh joy, he HATES the swab job). He is very contagious for another week atleast.

Where would he get epstein barr? Doctor said it's actually quite common for a kid to get it. They would just have to put a toy, a bottle, or a binky into their mouth that had the virus on it. Logan isn't in day-care though, he's with me. So unless our neighbor had it and never had any symptoms, then it remains a bit of a mystery. He has always been a very active boy, and has insisted on crawling all over everything and everywhere we go. It's a dirty world out there!

P.S. I was worried about battling an illness for months. However, mono affects young kids MUCH differently than old kids. It apparently hits teens much much harder. I was told that I might see him bouncing back in as little as ten days! What a great diagnosis! Even when I was really scared, I felt really peaceful, that Logan would be ok. I'm so grateful to live in this day in age.