Warning: The following topic is very disgusting, particularly if you don’t have kids.
In the Frumpy Zone, September means more than back to school. It means the end of those ‘schedule free’ days. No more late nights and lazy mornings. And most importantly, with the re-entrance into school and daycare, September means the start of ‘The Pathogen Parade.’ From mid-September to mid-June, my family will be attacked by every germ, parasite, and microbe known to man.
Schedule of last year’s Pathogen Parade:
Mid-September: Back to School Bacteria
Three children - three weeks of strep throat.
November: Seasonal Sinus Invasion:
The start of the ‘Great Phlegm War.’
December: Virus Vacation
Our family felled in a single blow by the ‘Virulent Vomiting Virus.’
January: Recurring Ear Infections
Every month until June
March, April, May: Phlegm Fighters
Dripping noses, oozing eyes, clogged ears.
June: Vomit Coughing
My two youngest were the first casualties of the ‘Great Phlegm War.’
Their systems were weak. Feverish, with severe chest congestion and pink eye, they got the worst symptom of all - vomit coughing : uncontrollable coughing which caused involuntary vomiting.
After 48 hours of changing sheets, and washing towels, my husband and I became professional vomit catchers. I became so adept at cleaning up projectile vomiting, that after my 4 year old threw up all over me at the Dr.’s office, the nurse didn’t even notice.
Last but not least, don’t forget the parasites that can bug you throughout the year.
Weekly Paranoia Lice Check –All it took was for one child to get it and my entire house was filled with chaos. Laundry increased ten-fold, and we all had to sit with nasty goo on our heads covered with shower caps. Not to mention the endless hours of combing and washing, combing and washing. So now I have developed OCD of the Scalp. When my children scratch, I immediately get out my ‘special’ comb and flashlight. I don’t care that they were just scratching their big toe, you can never be too careful.
As I say good-bye to the germ-free, healthy days of summer, I shudder at the thought of another school year in ‘The Pathogen Parade.’ I’m working on new legislation requiring a public school uniform: little surgical masks, shower caps and latex gloves so that no child will be left behind…sick at home.
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I guess I might as well start from the beginning. My name is Toni Boxley and I am the proud mom of two wonderful kids. My son Vershaun is three years old. He is a beautiful boy who loves the outdoors and his toy car and trucks. My daughter Veronica just turned two this month and is definitely a “girly girl” who hates dirt and bugs and loves Elmo and her doll and stroller. I am a stay at home mom and even though my kids are a handful at times, I wouldn’t trade it in for anything in the world. My son has a severe speech delay and some developmental delays so he attends special education preschool at Fair Oaks Elementary in Highland Springs, Va. For whatever reasons, speaking words was difficult for him and even by age three, he didn’t have very many. Still, life for us was pretty good. I didn’t have much income, we didn’t live in a mansion but we were a happy family. September of 2007 was my son’s first year of special education preschool and he seemed to be adjusting by early October. He was making good progress and his speech was improving slowly but surely and I couldn’t have been happier. Then late October
He seemed to have caught a bad cold that I couldn’t remedy on my own. I wasn’t too concern, I just assumed that he had caught a cold from a child in his class or it was just that time of the year that everyone seemed to have some type of “bug.” So, after trying the over-the –counter medicines, I called his doctor and made an appointment to find out what was going on with my son. I think if you are the parent of a child with delays or any type of special need, It is essential that you have a pediatrician that is compatible with your child and pays the extra attention needed to deal with delayed children. I think some doctors after awhile treat all patients the same and lose some of their compassion along the way. Sometimes, just because two patients have the same or similar symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean they have the same diagnosis. Anyway, his doctor assured me it was “just a virus” and that I should give him motrin for his fever and saline drops for his runny nose and just “let it run its course”. So, that’s what I did for about a week and I decided that I better check with the doctor again. Vershaun kept getting this reoccurring fever that just wouldn’t go away completely. His appetite seemed less than usual, and although he was still playing and functioning throughout the day I was still concerned. The second attempt at the doctor’s office still didn’t leave me feeling assured everything was okay. I had already decided that if things were not better in a few days, we were going back and someone was going to have to tell me something more concrete. Sure enough we had to go back because my son was feeling worse and the fever and runny nose was not getting any better and what really alarmed me was that he didn’t even want to play with those toy cars and trucks that he adored. My son was a very high energy child so when all he wanted to do was sleep all day I knew in my heart of hearts something was definitely wrong. I was taking my baby back to the doctor and we were not leaving without some type of medication or something. I wasn’t a doctor or even a nurse but I know my child and he was giving me enough signs to know he needed medical attention. Third time I take him to the doctor they finally decided to take a blood sample (only because I requested that they take one). It comes back showing he has some type of “virus” and they assure me (or attempt to assure me) that it is definitely a sinus infection and I am given a prescription for an antibiotic. At this point I feel a little relief because atleast this time we are given a prescription for something and they finally give me a definite diagnosis. I remember I grabbed my son and told him he will start feeling better as soon as he starts on his antibiotics and I go straight to the pharmacy to get it filled. I started my son on the medication the same day we got it filled and I waited anxiously to see some change in my son’s health, but I don’t. I actually see him get worse. I give him the antibiotic through the night and by morning he is moaning in pain, high fever, runny nose, and his eyes are pink and bulging. At this point I was scared and I felt helpless. I didn’t know what was going on with him. I decided by that afternoon that I would take him to CJW-Chippenham Hospital Emergency room because I was really convinced that the medication we had gotten from his pediatrician was not working and I was in no mood to go back there and they tell me nothing is wrong and to just keep on giving him the antibiotic. I remember I waited for my mother to get off from work and she came and picked us up. (I didn’t want to go by myself because I had my daughter with me also). Once I get him back to admittance, the nurse tells me that his color looks funny and she has a concerned expression on her face. They finally take him back to the pediatric ward and start to examine him and I am standing there answering a thousand questions,everything from what did we have to eat today to do we own pets. They finally suggested a blood and urine sample and have to give my son a catheter and draw his blood which makes him very unhappy and me hysterical. The doctors run some tests and tell me it looks like pneumonia at the very worse. I am not happy by the news but atleast I know pneumonia is treatable and we should be out this hospital in a few days at most. My son is admitted to the hospital so they can keep an eye on him and to run more tests to make sure it is not anything else going on with him. I remember feeling better because someone had finally told me what was really going on with my son and was doing something about it. I felt relieved because he would start to feel better once they started treating the pneumonia. I hated to see my kids suffering and Vershaun was definitely in pain. I wanted those doctors to hurry up and start his IV so he could get his medicine and feel better. I wanted to see that beautiful smile and hear that mischievous giggle that he was known for at school. I couldn’t bear to keep hearing him scream out in pain. I think as a parent, seeing your child in pain knowing there is nothing you can do to make it better is the worst feeling in the world. My mother took my daughter and I spent the night in the hospital bed next to my son. It was a rough night. Every so often the nurse would come in and draw more blood and run more tests on my son. I don’t think he got any sleep that night. He was also very cold. They didn’t let him have any type of blanket because he had a high fever. He slept bare chest in a pamper which I thought was cruel, but I guess they were doing all they could to help bring his fever down. The following morning the pediatric doctor comes and check on my son. Once again I am asked a thousand and one questions about my son’s medical history, to my medical history to his school and to our homelife. The morning pediatric doctor (which is not the same one we had seen last night) calls me in her office for a conference and shows me an x-ray of my son’s chest. I don’t know anything about the medical field but I am certain his chest x-ray is abnormal because his lungs were all cloudy. Apparently he had lots of fluid in his lungs which is making it hard for him to breathe on his own. She then starts to ask me about heart disease among family members and any type of heart-related issues that are hereditary. Once again I am back to the hysterical state because I know that heart questions are never good and if there is something wrong with your heart than the matter is very serious. Finally, I ask why all the heart questions and she tells me that his heart doesn’t look good and she thinks he may have a heart disease or heart failure. I’m not exactly sure because I think my brain stopped processing after awhile.
So, while I felt some relieve just the night before, the morning doctor had taken that away completely. They begin to run more tests on Vershaun. They tested him for everything from AIDS to Mono to MRSA. Everything came back negative. They decided that my son needed to see a pediatric cardiologist. I cannot begin to describe all the emotions I was feeling at that moment. I think I actually vomited because it was just too much to handle. I remember thinking I was in a bad dream and I was waiting for someone to wake me up or for the doctor to tell me she was wrong and that everything was really okay. But, that didn’t happen and after the cardiologist examined my son he decided that we needed to transport him to UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, VA because he was in very bad shape. I asked what exactly was wrong with my son and I still didn’t get a definite answer while the doctor seem to think it was heart disease the cardiologist thought it may be rheumatic fever????? I had never even heard of that. I was all over the place. I remember I had stepped out of my son’s room and I went to the lobby to call my mother to tell her the latest update (that they were sending my baby to UVA via helicopter) and to call my our family in Baltimore to get down here ASAP. While I was on the phone with my mother I hear the nurses yelling “Code Blue” over the intercom and I guess I didn’t put two and two together because I kept talking for a minute then something told me to go see what was going on. At that point I had “assured” myself that it wasn’t my son they were talking about until I walked back to the nurses station and saw all these people crowding in my son’s room. I asked the nurses at the desk “what happened” and I remember that day so vividly because no one answered me. I was just standing there and everyone who wasn’t in my son’s room just stared at me but not one of them spoke a word. I finally asked again although I had pretty much knew that my son was just barely holding on and whatever he had was clearly getting the best of him. After working on him for 15 or so minutes he is finally breathing on his own but they decided to put him on a breathing tube because he is very weak. I am soooooo relieved and I am elated for about 5 minutes. For anyone who doesn’t know anything about going code blue, the longer you are without oxygen the more damage it can cause your brain. And fifteen to twenty minutes is a very long time to have your oxygen supply cut off from your brain. Basically, (and I didn’t know this at the time or I didn’t want to believe it at the time) my son had about 30% of his brain already damaged. I kissed my baby and told him to hang in there and before I could cry they had him in the helicopter with all his tubes and IV injections and he was on his way to Charlottesville. I went to my mother’s house and waited for my family from Baltimore. Once they got there we were on our way. I think I got there around 9:00 p.m. and I came outside to give my family an update and I just lost it. I collapsed to the ground and screamed and cried. I was angry. I was angry at the world and at God. Why wasn’t God helping my beautiful baby who had just turned 3years old a week ago?. It was Thanksgiving eve and I remember thinking we should be at home getting ready to eat turkey and watch television all day what are we doing at the PICU at UVA? That night my son took a turn for the worse. He had stopped responding to light in his pupils. Apparently that was a very bad sign. By the end of the night the doctors at UVA told me they didn’t think my son would live much longer. Some type of virus had attacked his heart.
My son did pass away the following day (which was Thanksgiving of all days). He had lost what appeared to be all of his brain function (he had stopped responding to everything). My family and I gathered around Vershaun , said a prayer and took turns holding him. We had to pull the plug on my three year old. That is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my thirty years on earth. My son was the first death I’d ever experienced (which I think made things even harder to deal with). I will never forget what he smelled like once the doctors had pronounced him dead. He smelled like death. I had never had anyone close to me pass away but I knew the smell of death as soon as I leaned in to give my baby one last kiss. It’s an undescribable smell.
We request an autopsy and my son had a virus called Adenovirus. It apparently is pretty uncommon although there were quite a few cases reported by the CDC in 2007. I ask every parent to listen to their gut feelings about their children’s health, change your child’s pediatrician if you feel your child is not receiving adequate care, ask questions, and never feel guilty about getting a second opinion. Parents please visit the following websites on Adenovirus and if your child has the following symptoms, please ask your child’s pediatrician about getting your child tested for this virus. There is currently no vaccine for Adenovirus.
Symptoms of Adenovirus:
Colds
Pharyngitis (Sore throat)
Bronchitis
Pneumonia
Diarrhea
Eye infection
Fever (that will not go away)
Runny Nose
Note: Kids prone to upper respiratory viruses are more prone to get Adenovirus (like RSV)
Here are the websites. Parents please check this information. There is NO vaccine for this virus.
www.medicinenet.com/killer_cold_virus_adenovirus_infection_ad14/article.htm
www.KidsHealth.com
Sincerely,
Caring and Compassionate mom in Sandston, VA
RIP “Tink Tink”
Here is my contact info:
my2vers@yahoo.com
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