I am absolutely, positively, sick of sickness! Sickness, please leave our family!
It has been a rough month, to say the least. And this next month will be just as rough with all we have to do, and even rougher if sickness stays around.
Let me start with last month. When Rachel was exactly 2 weeks old she came down with a fever. I didn't even have to take her temperature (I didn't want to be the bad guy), she was that hot to the touch. Matt was supposed to go back to work for his second night since Rachel was born, so I took Rachel to our doctor. My parents were coming down to meet me there so they could sit with Josh in the waiting room. Rachel's temp was 101.4 via her right ear, 102.1 via her left, and when the nurse came back to take her rectal temp, it was 103.3. I knew we were going to get sent to the hospital. Any baby under 3 months of age with a fever of 100.5 or great goes to the hospital so they can rule out meningitis. So off to the hospital we went. Matt left work, Josh went with my parents to their house, and off we went to the hospital. I was scared. They took blood, urine and tested her for meningitis (spinal tap). They started antibiotics. It broke my heart for her to go through all of that. They have to let the cultures grow which takes 48 hours. So we were going to be at the hospital until Friday, at the earliest. At 12 hours her cultures were clean. Again at 24 hours they were still clean, which is an excellent sign (if they are clean at 24 hours, it is very unlikely anything will show up). At 36 hours (Friday morning) she was still clean, so Rachel's doctor told us we would leave Friday evening. It turned out that Rachel just had a virus. I was so thankful she was okay, but that is something I never want to repeat again.
The day we took Rachel to the hospital, I got a bad headache. I assumed it was from stress, hormones, and/or doing too much, too soon after my c-section. Two weeks later, I was still dealing with that headache. After talking to my mom, I went to the doctor. I had been struggling to get an appointment with our doctor due to vacation and him being booked up, so I went to urgent care. The doctor's consensus there was that I was suffering from tension headaches that turned into a migraine. He gave me several medicines. Some of them made me sleepy so my parents helped out with the kids. After several days, they were not helping like I thought they should be, plus I was getting sick to my stomach. So this time, I was off to the ER after being unable to secure an appointment with my doctor. I have seen and talked to several doctors about my headaches. We have struggled to find successful treatments and the cause. The consensus at this point appears to be a combination of things: migraine, stress (thus causing tension headaches), as well as hormones and my eyes. The current glasses I wear are a prescription given in 2008. I have had two pregnancies since then. I know my prescription has changed. When I wear my glasses I get headaches. My glasses were prescribed for distance: driving, watching TV, reading far away, etc., so I only wear them some. Now, I wear them a lot less. Maybe after the busy month of September passes, I will find some time to go to the eye doctor.
Joshua and Matt have also struggled this past month, although Joshua has been the least sick of us all. Josh got a fever one day. It turns out it was from a molar coming through. I am so thankful his teething is almost done! Then another day he fell off our bed and hit his head on my dresser. It was bleeding horribly! We took him to urgent care. No stitches or gluing needed, thank goodness! I pray all Josh's injuries will require no stitches or gluing, but I am not holding my breath: he is our child and he is all boy!
Matt has been a different story. His stomach has been acting up. He has been so sick and in so much pain. I thought the stomach trouble was over when he got his gallbladder removed, but we have been dealing with similar issues. Matt was experiencing typical stomach virus symptoms, but what concerned me most was that he had a fever and was complaining of horrible pain especially when he bent over. Day 2 of these complaints I talked him into going because of the fever and the pain. I was worried about his appendix. Our doctor didn't have any appointments that day, so he went to the ER. They thought it was from a virus. They gave him medicine and wrote him out of work for that day and the next. Initially, Matt felt the medicine was helping, but then, by the next evening, he was back to just as bad as he had been, if not worse. Friday, Matt got in with our doctor. Our doctor started the ball rolling on getting tests done. He felt it was possible Matt, with his frequent, serious stomach issues, has something like Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. So, Monday a week ago, Matt had an upper GI. The doctor found evidence of serious acid reflux and he took some biopsies, but did not find evidence of Crohn's disease or an ulcer. He suspected the biopsies would be clean. But during the procedure he found evidence that Matt may have sleep apnea because he struggled for breath while he was under. Matt followed up with our doctor this past Thursday. Our doctor feels it is imperative to test for sleep apnea first. So on the 17th of this month, Matt will have a sleep study done. After that, we will resume the search for his stomach troubles with a colonoscopy. If the colonoscopy is clean, Matt will have the test where he will drink the Barium and they will look in his intestines. I hope they find the answer soon. I don't want him to suffer any more. Once they found out what is causing the stomach trouble, then we will know how to treat it. I also hope he does not have sleep apnea.
This month will be busy, as well. I hope everyone gets to feeling better and stays healthy. It has been rough, and we have so much going on. Matt's business has inventory October 1, so he will start working weekends. He also has the sleep study on September 17. I have Charge Conference on the 29 and my consultation before it is on the 19th, and there is a lot of paperwork to prepare for that. In addition, I have two meetings this month in Columbia. We also have Rachel's 2 month checkup which includes shots. And I will have my last appointment with my OB this month. All this is in addition to our normal schedule. Plus, we may have to start looking for an assisted living place to get his parents into. Their health has been failing and they need some help. As I write this, Matt has gone to take his father to the hospital. They think he may have had a stroke. It's just a lot to take on right now. We would appreciate your prayers right now. We could certainly use them. When October 2 gets here, I think Matt and I might crash. But we can't because then it is time to plan two birthdays: mine on the 22nd of October and Josh's on November 1st. Then it will be time to get ready for the holidays. Wow, there is so much going on! It makes me tired just thinking about it all.
