My sweet baby had been running a fever on and off for nearly a month -- spiking at times to 106. He was barely eating and just not feeling well at all. It's the most helpless feeling in the world for a parent to watch a child suffer like that. I absolutely hate that feeling.
After his fever persisted for several days, we took him in to the doctor, but unfortunately it was a Saturday, and he wasn't able to see our regular pediatrician. The jerk (pardon me) who saw him basically blew it off and sent us home.
A few days later his fever was down, so we chalked it up to teething or a cold or something. Then within a week it was back; it went away, again, after a few days.
Then, the Saturday before last, the fever came back. He was feeling lousy for several days, and we just couldn't stand it any more, so we called the doctor again. We got in that day to see a doc we knew, and fortunately he took us seriously, sending Joseph for bloodwork. He admitted to being surprised when the results came back quickly, showing an elevated white blood cell count, CRP, and Sed rate . . . all indications of some kind of bacterial infection.
Joseph's fever remained high, and we took him in the next day to see the doctor yet again. More bloodwork was done, and the levels were even higher. This led the pediatrician to admit Joseph to the hospital on Friday afternoon, with plans for him to be seen by a pediatric infection specialist as soon as possible.
Those first hours in the hospital were miserable. Because Joseph was so dehydrated and feeling so terrible, it was extremely difficult for the nurses to get any blood drawn or start an I.V. It took 3 hours, 13 sticks, and about 9 different nurses to get it going. Finally a nurse from the NICU was able to start one.
(The hospital pajamas were cute -- but way too big for the little fella.)
Over the next few days, every test imaginable was run on my sweet baby. I can't express how hard it was to see him suffer -- to know he was feeling sick and also to watch strangers constantly bothering him. He absolutely hated it.
There were a couple of fun things the boy enjoyed doing -- like playing with a barrel of monkeys and pulling all the wipes out of the container -- that helped him pass the time.
On Sunday afternoon we finally got to see the specialist, who gave us a long list of very, very scary possible diagnoses. I knew he was just being really thorough, but just hearing him say words like leukemia and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis broke my heart and frightened me, and I fell to pieces. I was terrified for my little boy. Thankfully Bishop Arredondo and Brother Grow had come by and were able to give blessings to me, Chris, and Joseph, and I was then able to feel a little bit of peace.
Looking so sad in his crib.
One distraction that helped all of us to get our minds off of things was taking walks around the pediatric ward. Joseph really liked riding in the wagon.
During his stay, Joseph had about a million tests run. Blood was drawn and tested almost every day -- unfortunately, one day in particular it was torture for him. The most incompetent nurse on earth tried to draw his blood by basically sticking a needle under his skin and squeezing his arm like crazy. She wasn't able to collect enough for the tests, and what she got was clotted by the time it got to the lab. I was so mad she had put him through that for nothing and that his blood had to be drawn again later that morning. I almost went into Mama Bear mode and let her have it.
He had a couple of chest X-rays to look for things like pneumonia. He had an echocardiagram to look for a heart infection, and he had CT scans of his head, neck, and abdomen to look for a brain abscess or tumors or any other abnormalities. He also had a bone scan to check for any joint inflammation. All of these tests came back negative, which ruled out several really scary possibilities.
Joseph had to get a tube in his nose so they could give him contrast for the CT scans (because he refused to drink it). It was the saddest sight, seeing him with all those tubes, clinging to that granola bar that he couldn't have because he had to fast. He was so hungry.
He had to get a second I.V. while under sedation because the first one wasn't the best to begin with, and it was starting to fail.
He invented a fun game -- putting this roll of tape on his toe -- which he thought was absolutely hilarious. (We did too.)
I mentioned that incompetent nurse -- I have to clarify that about 90% of the hospital staff who worked with us were phenomenal and took great care of us. There were just a couple I wanted to strangle.
By Tuesday, Joseph had been without a fever for 36 hours, and his blood counts were down. His appetite had returned in force, his color was good, and he was feeling so much better! It was wonderful to see him acting like his old self again -- an amazing answer to countless prayers. The doctors said we could go home, finally.
Waiting to go home on Tuesday afternoon -- Joseph commandeered the TV remote and was pretty happy about it.
This whole experience was a nightmare. We never got any definite answers as to what caused the sickness, which is incredibly frustrating. There are still a couple of frightening possibilities on the table, and we have to watch for new or recurring symptoms in the future. He's got to return for more blood tests next week to make sure his levels are still low. The hope is that it was just some random, weird virus that they couldn't diagnose and that it's gone.
Can I just say how obviously I have seen the Lord's hand in our lives in the past week? As scary as it has been, there have been some incredible blessings. Our family members and friends have united in faith and prayer on Joseph's behalf -- I know his name was put on multiple Temple prayer rolls and that dozens of people prayed for him throughout this ordeal. He was given several Priesthood blessings, which I know were integral to his recovery. In addition, we had many visitors in the hospital, who came to lend love and support to all of us. And what can I say about our wonderful ward family? So many people prepared meals and watched the other children, and I received so many calls and emails expressing concern and compassion. Most wonderful of all, we were blessed to have Melissa here to take care of the kids, take care of the house, and manage everything so that Chris and I could stay at the hospital with the baby. That was just an indescribable blessing; I don't know what I would have done if I had been there by myself without Chris or if I had needed to stay at home and couldn't be there with Joseph. We have been incredibly blessed.
I am thankful to a merciful Father in Heaven who answers prayers. Even though the future is uncertain and something frightening may yet come of all this, I know He loves me and that He loves my sweet, little son and watches over us at all times. Though we must learn to accept His will in all things, He helps us through difficult times when we exercise faith in Him.
So we have Joseph back, and I am so grateful. He is the sweetest, funniest, cutest baby, and he melts my heart every day. He is not only my son but a child of God, and I know that as I trust in the Lord, all will be well.
(Can anyone tell me how to make this not have such irregular spacing? I have gone back again and again and edited it, spacing things out the right way, and it goes back to this every time. grr.)
