Saturday the 15th Max started coughing uncontrollably, developed a very high fever and lethargy set in. Poor baby couldn't rest he kept coughing himself awake. We figured it was some viral junk that everyone else was getting and that the doctor would just have us rest and keep fluids in him. So we waited. After several days of no improvement we had our neighbor Dusty come over and help Phil give Max a blessing so he could sleep and get better. That night his fever broke and he had a peaceful night's rest. We are grateful for the priesthood and helpful friends.
A few days later Rhett got taken down too. This poor kid. He didn't even resemble his normal vivacious self. His fever would come and go, raging hot and then would break. Only to return. When we gave him Tylenol he would perk up a bit, play but not eat and hardly would drink. Rhett never complained.
The boys also got hit with pink eye. Lovely, right? Luckily we were able to just call the doctor and they called in drops for the boys without us going into the office. At this point we were still thinking the coughs were viral and would run it's course.
Since we were all under house arrest I had to get creative. We were all going stir crazy. I built a fun fort in the front room and that kept them busy for a few hours.
The beautiful light and whimsy of childhood also prompted me to dust off my big camera and snap a few pictures of my sick babes. Soooo much better than my phone camera above.
We finally called the doctor to take the boys in after almost a week of little improvement. I called Phil at work and asked him to come home so I could just take the sickies to the doctor and spare Carson from possible exposure. Just as I was loading the kids in the van, I picked up Rhett to put him in his carseat and he vomited all over me and the garage floor. Phil walked in at that moment and ended up taking just Max since we were already running late and Rhett and I were a gross, stinky mess.
Max came home with antibiotics and a steroid breathing treatment and they also wanted to do a blood draw. Phil was leery of the draw since he knew Max would be traumatized, he also felt it was overkill. We decided to just do the meds and skip the blood draw. Max improved and is healthy now, thank goodness!
This was a Friday and since Rhett didn't get into see the doctor they couldn't call in meds for him. He wasn't coughing like Max was but still wouldn't eat, drink and slept all the time. He was sad and whiny, still with a fever. We took him into Urgent Care the next day and they diagnosed him with an ear infection. They gave him numbing drops and a script for antibiotics. He came home a different kid once the pain was managed. We asked him if his ear had been hurting (remember he never said a darn thing!) and he emphatically said "Yeah! My ear hurts!", like "good grief mom and dad, what took you guys so long?!".
I felt awful! During Rhett's first year he had around nine ear infections. He had tubes inserted at 15 months and we haven't had an episode since. With his diagnosis all the pieces fit back together again; loss of appetite, lethargy, fever, sleeping all the time... These were Rhett's classic symptoms of an ear infection. Back before he got tubes I could read him like a book and my mommy sense was keen on picking up on them. Also the reason he vomited was due to the motion of me picking him up, his eardrum full of fluid negated his equilibrium and that is why he got nauseous. It all made sense now!
He started a 10 day regimen of Augmentin. Then 2 days after he finished the meds he complained that his ear hurt. Thank goodness; we made sure to emphasize that he needs to tell us when his ears hurt! Took him back into the doctor and the same infection had not resolved. He has been desensitized to certain antibiotics due to how many he had his first year. We got him on a different drug, Omnicef, and that kicked it. Last week we followed up with the doctor to make sure the infection was gone. It is but he still has a lot of fluid in his ear and that ear lost it's tube, hence the ear infection. We see the ENT in a few weeks to evaluate if he needs to have another tube placed.
Whew! That was a book of a blog. I just meant to throw up some cute pics of my kids and say we were sick... And now this. :) Once I start writing the words just keep flowing. Thankfully through all of the sickness Kate was always healthy and Carson's cough was just that. A cough with lots of stuffy congestion. That wreaked havoc on our sleeping but was managed with saline and an awesome nose sucker thing I got online. I am thankful he didn't get the kids' pink eye and infection.
