May 2015 Isaiah 5 years old, Jonathan 3.5 years old, Audriana 36 weeks In utero
On Thursday May 21, after Isaiah had gone to preschool and woke up from his afternoon nap he started to complain about his neck hurting. I didn't think much of it and figured he must have slept wrong on it during his nap. Then that night he woke up with a fever and it carried on through Friday and Saturday. I was having to give him Tylenol every four hours to keep his fever under 102. His appetite and energy levels would come and go, which made me believe he wasn't too terribly sick and was on the mend. Then on Sunday morning after waking up (again fever all night) and starting to play with his toys, Jaime noticed that the right side of his neck had started to swell...bigtime. Hurriedly, Jaime put him in the car and took him straight to urgent care. After waiting for two hours to be seen by a doctor, Isaiah was beside himself. They took an X-ray of his neck and the next thing the doctor is suggesting to Jaime is that he immediately take him to Valley Children's Hospital suspecting Meningitis. *Stiff neck is one of the top signs of meningitis. At least with that being a possibility Isaiah was seen and treated right away in a packed ER. Meningitis was ruled out quickly through a physical assessment from the ER doc. Movement of Isaiah's neck and his mental capacity were more than fine...ruling out Meningitis. But, Isaiah was VERY sick and had a huge swollen right neck. A neck ultrasound showed he had enlarged lymph nodes so IV antibiotics were started in the ER and he was given an oral antibiotic for the next 10 days. For the next solid SEVEN days Isaiah ran a high grade fever, was throwing up, not eating, and sleeping the days away. Jaime and I were worried sick that something else might be wrong with him but all we could do at that point was let nature run it's course...and see if the antibiotics would do anything. I would go to bed crying, I was so worried about him. Jaime was such a great dad. He slept right next to Isaiah throughout the night on the couch, waking up every four hours to give him his medicine, some water, or rubbing his back while he puked up the fluids in his stomach. He was so worried that me and the baby might catch this nasty bug he was adamant he be the one to have the most contact with Isaiah. Praise God, the antibiotics and his immune system finally kicked into gear and his body slowly healed itself. Once he was feeling better it took another seven days for him to completely be his normal, energetic self again. Jaime and I count our blessings everyday that our boys are healthy and strong. This experience really made us reflect on how fortunate we are and not to EVER take for granted the health of our children.
Even in Isaiah's sickest hours he was MR. PARTICULAR.While puking, he would say, "no daaddy, pat my back like this..rub my back here not here." Sometimes he wanted his water with ice, other times without. His blanket could only be covering his ankles not all of his legs...this BOY, I tell you!!!! We'd do ANYTHING for him:)
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This is what I walked into when I went to meet Jaime and Isaiah in the ER
My heart skipped a beat when I saw him with that hospital gown and mask on.
Yes, in my line of work I see it everyday, but NEVER on my own child. |
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| He was so brave through all the medical treatments he received. Not one tear. |
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| My sick, sick baby boy:( |
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| His swollen neck being assessed at the urgent care. |
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| Does it look like he got his butt whooped or what!?!? This is him finally starting to feel better and not spike a Fever in 24 hours. |
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| After missing a week of preschool, his school sent him Get Well cookies and balloons. Made his day! |
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| And it just so happened on his first excursion out in seven days, he was upgraded to a booster seat! |
