Sickness, Sickness go away!

Whew, it has been a whirlwind of a week!  Sometimes I feel like we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we just had time to sit around.  Anyone else feel like that??

We already knew the week would consist of unpacking and getting the house straight.  Then, with Ed starting back on campus next week but having a week filled with meetings and getting things in order this week, we decided that if we wanted to get our yard spruced up and tackle the project of putting a flower bed in the back yard, it had to be now.  And let me tell you, it is no small project.  Then, Emerson decided to get real sick on us for no apparent reason, and we spent lots of time in the doctor’s office (and by lots, I don’t mean an hour!)

We had our friend Andrew (who graduated with a landscaping degree and then has worked for landscaping companies) come over and give us some tips, so we can’t take all the credit.  I will spare you all the details on what all we had to specifically do with our yard, but wanted to share the results and brag on my amazing husband who worked SO hard in the heat and humidity to make it happen.  How could I forget Kinsley?  She also slaved away making it happen.  My favorite part?  The stepping stones and rocks that lead from the gate to the yard and deck….so pretty.

Now onto the constant sickness that is the saga of my kids’ lives.  We had a 9-month well checkup scheduled for Emerson on Tuesday.  Monday evening, she started running a small temperature but had not other symptoms, so I thought maybe it was teething.  Tuesday morning, I took Kinsley to run errands and Ed called to say he thought she wasn’t really feeling well.  When I got home about midday, she had a 103 temp.  I took her to the doctor’s office that afternoon for her well appointment just thinking I would ask them about it there.  Even though I had given her medicine, when they checked her at the doctors office, she still had a 103 temp.  After hearing that she had just been vomiting and had diarrhea last week and had only a high temp this week with no other symptoms, they started to be concerned that maybe it was bacterial and not viral.  So, they stuck her finger, took her white blood cell count, and then we super concerned when it came back at 23 (normal is 10-15 and high is 15-20).  They went into full action mode – they did a cath to get a urine sample, took her blood to send off a blood sample, and gave her two shots of robicillin, an antibiotic.  Poor baby was screaming her lungs off and took forever to calm down.

Then, they wanted us to come back the next afternoon, but wanted us to call if her temp went above 104.  Long story short, the next morning when she woke up, her temp was 104.4.  We called them, they said to come in that morning, took her white blood cell count again (which was still high), and then give her two more shots of robicillin.  They said to keep giving her medicine every three hours to stay ahead of the temp (if we waited 4 or more hours her temp shot back up)  We had to return the next day and because her temp had finally broken and her blood cell count was down, they didn’t have to give her another shot.  Basically, they just think it was a weird virus with a really high temp that lasts for a few days and shows no other symptoms.  Crazy, huh?

I am so, so done with our kids being sick (and us!).  I think because we all had RSV at the beginning of the year, our immune systems are really weak and we get everything.  Colds, norovirus, strep throat, hand foot and mouth, viral infections with high temps, vomiting, diarrhea, concussion and cat scan, and some of these have happened multiple times.  It especially stinks when you are looking forward to coming home and seeing friends, and you can’t, because you don’t want to infect their kids.

What has been really refreshing, though, has been through memorizing the book of James about perseverance and suffering, I am reminded that our suffering in the midst of sickness is really nothing compared to the suffering that others have gone through, especially the saints who have persevered to share the truth of Christ.  Also, we had a dear friend here just get diagnosed with cancer and I am again reminded that while we are sick, we will get better and it isn’t life threatening.  Really, life could be way worse.  Not to mention that it will all end as this life is so temporary.  It does stink, but that is okay.  Even through this, the Lord is conforming my life and making me more like him, and if sickness is what it takes to make that happen, then so be it!

I did one DIY project yesterday and it turned out great.  I have a few more planned this week, so I look forward to sharing those next week.

1 thought on “Sickness, Sickness go away!

Leave a Reply to Kristin S Cancel reply