Swinging from Broken Branches: That Time of Year Again

I had high hopes for this year. Cohen was feeling better, doing well, staying stable. The girls were doing well. Hannah's skin had improved.

But here we are just moving into cold and flu season and already we've been hit pretty hard.

In the past, we've questioned Jenna's blood, her bruising because she tends to bruise a lot.

She started getting sick last Wed. Running a fever, clogged with congestion. No biggie, I thought, probably just a virus. She missed school Thurs and Fri, still running a fever. Sat, Sun, much of the same. And so on...

By Tues, I was concerned. She was not happy. In the morning, she was stomping around acting whiny, being Miss Sensitive, so I took her to the doc. At the office, she was no longer running a fever. She looked great! Wouldn't you know it? No ear infections, a red throat (from all that drainage, probably) but no strep per the rapid strep test, chest sounds clear. Tummy palpable. And so on...

Well, a few weeks ago we were going to do blood work, but never got around to it (I know, bad mommy!). They had the lab slip ready at the doctor's office when we came in on Tues and I left the office and took Jenna right over to get labs drawn. CBC and Platelets. By this time, she was acting much, much better.

She seemed to do okay Tuesday night, and since I'd been pressured by the school in the past (why was she out for so long? type stuff), I sent her to school Wed so she wouldn't miss any more days. Thurs she woke up saying she was sick. I sent her to school anyways. It's hard to know with Jenna. Sometimes she says things to get attention. I figured she couldn't still be sick because she'd been doing great for two days.

I called the school later that morning to check on her just in case. They said she had not eaten her breakfast. She went right to the corner of the classroom and curled in a ball on the floor and went to sleep. She was not doing well. I went to pick her up and she was so sick I had to half support/half carry her out to the car (a workout! My baby is not such a baby anymore). Halfway home she started to vomit like crazy. The car smelled like roses, as you can imagine. I thought I could possibly join her.

We called the doc to see if blood results were back. I just had this feeling.Yes, results were in.White blood cell count 3. Platelets 97. Really low.

I guess I wasn't super surprised. With Cohen's issues, I figured we might have missed something with the other two kiddos. In the past, the pediatrician has said they may all be linked. But now, we have abnormal blood in another child. Maybe it's just due to the virus, or whatever it is she's fighting. Maybe, or maybe not.

I'm a little scared. Confused. Frustrated. Worried.

I carried her into the doc's office yesterday just before the office closed. The doc took one look at Jenna sleeping on the table, a red rash all over her face, her back, her arms and said off to the ER you go.

They tried to get an IV in three times. Jenna screamed and head-butted me and slapped at the nurses and gnawed on her hand so hard her jaw kept popping. We couldn't get the IV in, but they got enough blood for a CBC.

The doc came in excited. Her blood was better this time. HOW? And why the heck is the doc excited? She could barely walk, could hardly stay awake, was so sick she refused to eat and barely drank anything all day, when on Tues. (the first blood draw) she was walking around, being silly, laughing. I can't help thinking there's something wrong with this... Maybe last night she should have been more abnormal than she was. Maybe she started off too low. Maybe, maybe, maybe... I don't know. ER doc told us the blood indicates a viral infection - no medication needed. Let it run its course.

So anyways, the good news is Jenna now has a referral to the hematologist, because even though her blood was better last night, it was still not normal. Her platelets are still low. Which, again, could be due to the virus. Maybe, maybe not. I'd feel much better if she was followed and her blood monitored. Maybe it will give us peace of mind if it is just due to viruses, or whatever...

Jenna and Cohen both go to the hematologist on Oct. 7th.

That is a big day for another reason. That is the day Cohen will start getting intravenous immunoglobulins, otherwise known as IVIG. This is an all-day appointment on an IV drip. If, after three sessions, he improves (including his blistered skin, which isn't getting any better), he will get a portal put into his chest to administer the plasma through there. I am actually so excited--this could really, really help him, but it is a year and a half of hours-long treatment every three to four weeks from what I understand. But if it improves the quality of his life in the long run, I am all for it!

Cohen is also getting a full-time nurse. I couldn't be more grateful for the help. This life is getting crazier by the day...

Cohen just got sick all over Craig this morning, who has been gone since Tuesday and returned home in the middle of the madness... I guess Cohen finally caught the virus, too, although I thought he already had it because he's been waking up screaming every night for the past two weeks. And Hannah got sick last Sun., but is finally feeling better today. She couldn't even get out of bed yesterday, ate two pieces of toast all day and vomited it right back up. *sigh*

AND on top of all of this, my cousin, his wife, her mom, their roomate, and their two kids came to stay with us as Hurricane Ike pelted their neighborhood last Sat. They came here last Thurs. night and just left yesterday, after a full week, because power was finally back up in their neighborhood. We were all watching, fascinated and appalled, as the hurricane swept through Galveston and Houston.

My cousin lives at the far end of Galveston Bay, a little more inland. His house is okay, though. He is so relieved. Bad luck follows this poor guy like the plague.

When Hurricane Rita hit Beaumont, my cousin's apartment was demolished. He recently had to stay in a rental home for a few weeks (courtesy of homeowner's insurance) because his house caught on fire. So when the eye of Hurricane Ike headed right up into the bay, we weren't really surprised.

We were all joking about it, which made it seem not so bad, even as we hoped people in the area would be okay (some of our family stayed there) and that my cousin's house would withstand the weather. But my cousin knows by now that stuff is just stuff. At least his family was safe.

We managed to get in some time to visit, went out to dinner, caught a movie. They went sight-seeing a couple of days. I love having family around so I didn't really mind the chaos. And surprisingly, despite all the craziness, I miss them now that they're gone.

The girls makin a mess right before we make them clean it up!

The nurse and Auntie bundling Cohen up like a burrito. Or a fortune cookie.

The odd man out. He looks thrilled.

More kid craziness.

Cohen sleeping through it.

As you can probably imagine, mealtime was very interesting in a house with twelve people. The guys were nice enough to cook up a yummy breakfast one morning...