24 Jan Day of Days
Really it’s been a day of days every day around here the last few days. Whew.
Last Friday, Keegan’s labs showed he might have been reacting to something. Most notably, his white count was up for him (still low but higher than his norm), and his platelets had dropped significantly. Two predictors of viral exposure for Keegan. By Friday afternoon, the entire right side of his face was bright red and warm to the touch. His heart rate was up, and we were just sure we would be in the ER by morning.
Well, we weren’t. He never spiked a fever, and by morning, his heart rate was back down. However, both cheeks were red, and it looked like his lips were severely chapped. Then, the diarrhea came, and the emotional avalanche started. And kept going and going and going. It wasn’t until Sunday that we realized he had Fifth Disease or “slapped cheek syndrome”. Almost every child has had this at some point. I’m pretty sure Keegan has had it before…maybe it was Audrey. I’m not sure. Anyway, once the rash appears, the child is generally not contagious anymore. Audrey never showed any signs of it this time, and Keegan’s rash is almost completely gone today.
The last few days have been rough for us all. While Keegan could still have a full flare in response to this virus, it seems he has been having all the other symptoms of a flare without the fever – fatigue, GI issues, and the emotional roller coaster. It gets really old, really fast. Deep breath.
At any rate, it seems to be subsiding now. Which is good because we have a pretty big weekend coming up with Gray’s first half marathon! He is feeling good and ready to go. I’m supposed to run with him and pace him, but I can’t say I’m feeling as well. My Achilles started aching again after my long run last week. So fingers crossed that (1) Keegan stays on the “getting better” track, (2) Gray does really well in his race, and (3) that I am able to join him on his big day.
(Wow, looking back at that last sentence, I’m extremely thankful that those are our only prayer requests of the week! Wow. Now that, my friends, is something to post about…no matter how rough the week has been!)