TMI Tuesday: Oh, Nuts!

We have a, most of the time, happy little boy who is, mostly, health so there isn’t really anything that we can complain about there. So far, 2016 has been pretty good to us but there have also been many challenges this year and while we have gotten some answers there are other questions that remain. The biggest of which relates to our son’s possible allergies.

We learned rather quickly in the spring that Penicillin, for all the good that it can do, is not something that agrees with our son. The hives, rash, and bloating made us acutely aware of his allergy to this widely prescribed medication. It was one of the scariest few days of parenthood thus far with multiple trips to the emergency room and countless appointments with the pediatrician. Not knowing what was going on during those first couple of days is a feeling that I hope to never experience again.  

I guess the good and bad things about the situation is that we already had an allergist lined up for our son as there have been some minor reactions to peanut butter that we were hoping to get figured out. The appointments started in January or February but, because of the chaos that ensued since then, we are still in a state of flux. We simply don’t know if this is another allergen to add to his list.

The latest attempt brought us some hope as it was the final of three steps of testing. He had already passed the skin test and the blood work also came back negative. The final exam was to conduct a food challenge to see if anything happened while consuming peanut butter. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, our son wouldn’t eat more than the initial taste (three are required) and we are once again in limbo until the winter.

While nuts have been a part of our regular diet before this year, we haven’t had any in the house since winter and have consumed little outside of the house as well (never around our son). It is a change and sometimes a challenge, especially given the stock pile kept in the office kitchen, but it is completely manageable. Yes, we have to alter some things here and there but, beyond the aforementioned allergy and potential allergy, our son is a happy and growing boy. And, having survived last year, 2016 is pretty easy in comparison.

TMI Tuesday: Long Weekend

When I got the call from my wife on Thursday afternoon it seemed like everything was under control, worrisome but under control. As the end of the day approached, we knew that the situation wasn’t as clear cut as we once thought and so, as I previously wrote, I made the arrangements to hand everything off at lodge and made my way home as soon as possible. That was only the beginning. It has been a long few days with little sleep at night and too many hours of worrying during the day.

On Thursday, my wife arrived at the daycare to pick up our son not knowing what she was walking into. Almost immediately, the staff pulled her aside to show he some hives that had popped up on our son’s back and diaper area. Without hesitation, my wife called the pediatrician and had an appointment for early that evening. It didn’t look to be serious (reaction to the medication he was on) during the checkup and, instructions and new prescription in hand, she brought our son home to get some rest. By the time I walked in the door, things had progressively gotten worse but in so much as was to be expected based on the information she was given.

When we checked on him that night we knew that something was definitely wrong and we weren’t about to wait until the morning to see a doctor so we took him to the emergency room at three in the morning. A few hours later we had a slightly different plan in place to get everything under control and, after putting our son down for a nap, I headed off to work for the day. I was able to spend some time with my son when I got home but he was soon in bed trying to fight whatever was causing his issues. While there was some progress during the day something was still off by the time the sun went down.

Again, we checked on him around midnight and, after consulting with the pediatrician’s office over the phone, brought him back to the emergency room where his treatment was adjusted. By this point the medical chaos was taking a toll on all of us and we headed back to see the doctor on Saturday morning to have our son checked again. Having slept for most of the day, we were surprised when our son willingly went to bed at his usual time on Saturday night and while the evening was by no means normal, we did avoid a third trip to the hospital.

By Sunday morning, our son was no longer himself at all. He was definitely still uncomfortable from the hives/rash and now, as he began to swell, we could tell that he was in pain and wasn’t able to move around normally. With these changes we once again sought the advice of the pediatrician with little change to his treatment. By the time we woke him up that evening we knew that it was going to be another long night in the emergency room.

Thankfully, we got the information that we needed and the right routine put in place after hours upon hours of waiting and numerous tests performed on our poor baby. In the end, it is nothing that will impact him long term but the recovery is going to be much longer than we originally anticipated... around 6 weeks. This is definitely something that will require some adjustment over the next several weeks but it was certainly a relief that there is an end to this illness.

While we have had some trying times since our son’s birth dealing with minor health occurrences, this experience was really the first time when I felt the full range of emotions. There were moments when I was angry, scared, exhausted, and happy but the most prevalent feeling was that of helplessness. I pleaded and prayed on countless occasions that this wouldn’t be anything serious and that our baby boy would feel better. I couldn’t do anything but try to comfort him and be there for my family… it just didn’t seem like I was doing enough no matter what I did.

We are all recovering now but it is a weekend that is etched in my mind. While I know that it is unavoidable and that I have to come to terms with the fact that I can’t control certain situations I hope that our son never has to be in that situation again and I hope that my wife and I never have to feel so helpless again. But, for now, we are going to focus on recovering and making sure that our son continues to know that we are always there for him.

TMI Tuesday: What Rhymes With Poop?

Well, the poop hit the fan last weekend! As last week came to an end, we were all tired. It was a long week at the office for me, my wife returned to work after doggedly pursuing the last document she needed from a former employer, and our son had his first experience at daycare (he spent three days there). We were all ready for a quiet weekend spent at home taking a break from the chaotic days that seem to have dominated these days off during the summer. Well, that was the plan…

We had noticed that our son wasn’t feeling well later in the week and my wife had taken him to the pediatrician on Friday to get checked out. We followed the directions they gave us and we put him to bed with a little Tylenol (per the instructions we were given), a cold air humidifier in the corner, and the head of his bed slightly elevated. A few hours later, with my wife and son now both asleep, I was at my computer sorting through my neglected emails when I could hear what sounded like a wounded cow near the top of the stairs. When I turned the corner to walk toward the bedroom there was my wife holding our moaning child. Something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t long before we were all in the car on our way to the emergency room. Thankfully, it was a slow night and I was able to hold my son in the hospital bed shortly after our arrival. In the end it wasn’t just a cold as the pediatrician told us earlier, he had Croup. Almost immediately after he was given the right medicine the groans stopped and we could both tell that he was beginning to feel better. An hour after we arrived we were back in the car and on our way home. We were all exhausted and soon after our return assumed our positions from before this whole ordeal began.

Obviously we all slept in on Saturday as we resumed our plans and took it easy allowing our son sleep as much as he needed and my wife and I trying to relax, order dinner, and spend some time together. Well, dinner was a mistake. By Sunday morning our son was returning to his normal happy self while my wife and I were struggling to do just about anything. After my wife reluctantly cancelled her plans for the day, we knew that this wasn’t going to get better without some help so we both headed over to the local Urgent Care once my mom arrived to watch our recuperating baby.

Fortunately, the doctors knew exactly how to treat food poisoning and so after some medicine and two IV bags, we returned to the house feeling a lot better than when we left. While we were both nowhere near ‘better’ we both felt good enough to return to work the following morning and our son, no longer contagious, returned to daycare. It was a long weekend after a long week and I hope we never have to go through that again!

Valentine’s Day Flu

After a long week for both me and my wife when sleep seemed more like an option rather than a requirement, we headed out to dinner at the local Cheesecake Factory on Friday night. Seemed appropriate since we were coming from her mom’s house and this was the place where the three of us would commonly meet. After the experience we had (it takes talent to mess up a plain well done cheeseburger three times in a single night) it is safe to say that we will not be returning.

The rest of the night was about as uneventful as we could expect. Not easy as we are heading into the last couple of weeks of the pregnancy which has a certain effect on her demeanor which is compounded by the other emotional events that are swirling around our daily life. But it was the weekend and while we didn’t have any particular plans, trips, or even gifts, we were till going to do our best to enjoy a final Valentine’s Day before the baby arrives.

We had our weekend planned out to both take a few moments for ourselves but also to spend some much needed time with family. When we got up on Saturday morning those plans quickly changed as my wife could feel the very beginnings of a fever beginning to surface. All the plans that we had were immediately thrown away and we focused on doing our best to relax and spending a day at home.

By the early afternoon my wife wasn’t feeling any better so we gave the doctor a call to determine what our next course of action should be. Given the fact that she is 38 weeks pregnant it really wasn’t a surprise when they told us to head to the emergency room and get checked out. Hours, numerous tests, and a few naps later and we were finally told that the flu shot that sent her to the same emergency room in October didn’t work.

Once we were able to jump through all the hoops we were finally able to head out the door just as the snow was beginning to pick up. Of course, since it was now nearly eight at night there was only one pharmacy near our house which was open and able to fill the scripts. Four pharmacies and a quick Chinese food take out later and we finally made it home around nine. Everything seemed to settle down and we were both looking forward to sleeping in. That was the thought until my wife began waking me up in the middle of the night saying that her temperature wasn’t going down. It was going to be a long night but at least I didn't get stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for eight hours like I did last year. 

Hospital Perspectives

Having been to many different hospitals over the years for a variety of reasons I have really some to not enjoy the experience but have become unfazed by the environment and having to spend countless hours within their walls. While much of that calmness depends on the reasons for making the trip there, the majority of my experience has been of the non-life-threatening variety. Mostly those stays have involved pain and/or preventative measures… in some cases, like allergic reactions, it would have been a different scenario had we waited any longer.

Lately many of those brief visits to the medical compounds have been to check in on our son. These have been a welcomed change to the history that my wife and I both have with many of those medical buildings. It is here that we have been able to both see and hear our baby and really get lost in each and every moment. It is those times when the world melts away and any pain, discomfort, and stress disappears for a fleeting moment… it is better than any medication that any doctor could administer.

However, last week I was reminded of how much hospital trips can suck as I had to take a family member to the emergency room at 1:00am (it was not my wife so don’t freak out). It was a pain that I was all too familiar with having had a kidney stone in the past but this one seemed to be a lot worse. At least by what I could observe. And while we were able to quickly move through triage that is where the quick pace ended. 

This was the first time that I had been to the emergency room at this particular hospital in Chester County and I can’t say that I would rank it very high on the long list of hospitals and emergency rooms that I have visited during my life. The staff was slow and many of them didn’t seem like they knew what they were doing… while waiting in a "room" surrounded by curtains, I could actually hear a handful of staff members asking their colleagues where they were supposed to be. It really was a long cluster of a night/morning that dragged on for hours.

Once the pain was managed and the discharge papers signed, we headed back out into the cold and slalomed down the slightly icy roads. By the time I got back home I had about 15 minutes to sleep before my alarm would start going off. Needless to say I got to work a little later than usual last Friday.

And now with that experience fresh in my mind I am looking forward to what will hopefully be my next trip to the hospital. It won’t be much longer before I will welcome the trip to the hospital and anxiously pace around the room waiting for the birth of our child to happen. While all these other memories will remain, I am eagerly waiting for this new experience to be the prominent thought in my mind when I think about hospitals.