Dear Jake,
I love you so much. I would do anything for you and your brother. I am so thankful and blessed that God has given me two healthy boys and after this past month I will never take that for granted. I don’t even know how to explain the emotional roller coaster I’ve been on this month and how worried and upset I’ve been. Thank God, everything is fine now and you will never even remember everything you went through.
It all started on Thursday night. After dinner I noticed that you would not walk and it seemed like you were really trying to keep your weight off of your right leg. You are always climbing on to stuff and falling down but I didn’t see you do anything that would warrant you not wanting to walk. The crazy thing is, when Max was 13 months old he went down a slide at the park and kind of twisted his leg and he wouldn’t walk on it. It was like deja vu. The next morning when I came to get you out of bed you were burning up. I checked your temperature and it was 103 and you still would not walk. I wasn’t sure what to do but my mama instinct told me to go ahead and take you to the doctor, I didn’t want to wait and then end up at urgent care over the weekend. Since Nona was busy that day Max accompanied us to the doctor’s office and kept telling me that he didn’t want you to go the doctor because he wanted you to play with him. I think he knew what was coming.
At the doctor’s office they watched the way you were kind of limping and crying when you would put weight on your legs, especially the right one. They told me they wanted to do a flu test, a strep test, and do some blood work. They took you into another room to draw blood and it was probably a good thing I didn’t have to watch. All I know is that you came back with a bandage wrapped around both of your arms and you were crying and saying, “mama!” We were then sent to have x-rays done of both legs and your hips. Thankfully there was a sweet nurse with a basket full of stickers that entertained Max so that I could be with you while you were getting your x-rays done. When everything was done we went home just in time for your nap and waited to hear x-ray and test results from the doctor’s office.
Around 4:30pm a nurse from the doctor’s office called to inform us that the flu and strep results were negative and that the x-rays didn’t show anything. Just as I started to feel relieved the nurse told me that your blood work showed that you had a low platelet count and that we needed to take you to Cook Children’s ER right now. I was terrified. I asked the nurse a bunch of questions and she kept telling me that they didn’t know what was wrong or what needed to be done so that is why they wanted us to take you to the ER. In a complete panic I began to cry and immediately called Dada. Thankfully he was already on his way home. Then I called Nona and she immediately headed to her house so that we could drop Max off at her house. As soon as Dada got home we dropped Max off with Papa and headed to the ER. I made sure to bring your blankie, your cup, and some snacks since I had no idea how long we were going to be there. I was a complete mess thinking about the different diseases and illnesses associated with a low platelet count. When we got to the ER we were seen almost immediately. When the nurses started taking your vitals and asking us questions in the triage I completely lost it and started crying. I know that Dada was worried and upset but he was strong and kept it together for my sake and yours. We got put in a room and the you put on a little baby hospital gown as we were waiting for the doctor. The ER doctor was very sweet and explained that they needed to do some more tests to see what was going on. She explained that they were going to give you an IV in case they needed to administer medicine and that they also would do more blood work along with an ultrasound of your hips. We were checking for fluid in the hip joints and redrawing blood to check your platelet count. Since we didn’t know what your actual platelet count was they wanted to check it again. She explained that saying that your platelet count was “low” could mean that it was one lower than average or that there was a mistake made when drawing your blood. She assured us that they would rule things out and determine what was going on.
After that two nurses came in to give you an IV. It was horrible. They checked both arms and legs to determine the best place to the put the IV before poking you. They found a good vein in your foot but it collapsed as soon as they inserted the needle. At this point you were past crying and I was just rubbing your face as you whimpered. I did really good for the first 15 minutes or so but after that I began to cry and just stroke your cheek. Then the other nurse tried your other foot and she was able to find the vein. I had no idea how they were going to secure an IV so that you wouldn’t pull it out but they got it secure and you finally stopped crying. So after 45 minutes you had an IV in your foot that would work for delivering medicine but would not work for drawing blood, which meant that they were going to have to stick you again to take blood.
Next we were taken to an ultrasound room. You actually did really great while the technician did an ultrasound of your right hip. You were very still and you didn’t even cry. The bed that you were laying on had a little mobile that lit up and played music, it was a great distraction.
When we got back to our room a nurse told us that the phlebotomist was coming to draw blood and not to worry because he was very quick and great at drawing blood. Sure enough, a guy came in, poked you once in the arm and drew all the blood they needed. He was literally in our room for 2 minutes and I was very thankful for his competence. We were told that it would take 10 to 15 minutes to get all the results back, so now we were just waiting. After all of the trauma you had just been through we were still able to play with you and make you laugh. I found a sucker in my purse and you were delighted to have it. I would have given you whatever you wanted at that point. Dada and I said a prayer for you and tried to keep you occupied and happy while we were waiting.
Finally the doctor came back in our room. I was so nervous and worried and just praying that everything was going to be okay. The doctor informed us that they were looking to see if you had something called an aseptic joint. It is basically an infection in the joint that would warrant a hospital stay and rounds of antibiotics. Thankfully there was no fluid found in your joints, ruling that out. The doctor told us that what you had was toxic synovitis. It is basically an inflammation in the lining of the muscle sheath. It is more common in boys and usually happens after having a cold or being sick. We were told that the inflammation would go away pretty much on its own and you would be back to normal in no time. She gave us a prescription for Naproxin and told us just to give it to you if Motrin didn’t work. Your blood work came back fine and your platelet count was completely normal. Basically the doctor’s office just had a bad draw cutting some of your platelets in half therefore lowing the amount of whole platelets. All of this to say, you are healthy and everything is fine. On Saturday morning you woke up happy and you were back to walking and climbing on everything. I can’t explain how relieved and thankful I am that you and Max are healthy boys!
Just when we thought we were out of the woods, the next weekend we ended up at urgent care, AGAIN! Saturday morning you climbed up on the couch and then took a face dive right into the chair. Of course you managed to hit your forehead right on the hard part of the couch, you couldn’t just hit the cushion because that would prevent another trip to the doctor. Needless to say, you bled like crazy and of course cried. After putting pressure on it for a while I saw how deep the gash was and immediately knew that you needed stitches. You didn’t cry long and I managed to get a bandaid on your head so that we could at least get you to the doctor’s office without getting blood on everything. You ended up getting two stitches and screaming like crazy the whole time. I felt so sorry for you that I gave you a sucker while we were waiting for a prescription for antibiotics, just to prevent infection.
Having two stitches in your forehead didn’t seem to slow you down because you continued being the little daredevil that you are. We had to watch you like a hawk so that you wouldn’t hit your head and reopen your wound. After a week we were able to get your stitches out ourselves and now it has almost completely healed. I’m sure you are going to have a little scar, but I fear it is just going to be one of many. I’m just praying we don’t have to go back to the doctor or visit the emergency room for a LONG time.
Sorry that your whole letter has been about doctor visits but that was pretty much the “theme” of this past month. On a different note, you and Max are starting to play together more and more and your relationship seems closer and stronger everyday. If you wake up from your nap before Max does you get anxious and you will go bang on his door so that he will wake up and come play with you. You are such a little booger. I got a cute video of Max cracking you up on the car ride home from church. While Max makes you laugh a lot I think you make him laugh even more. You are such a little character and you are always being silly and making us all laugh. You head bang to music in your car seat all the time and when you hear music playing from your little Elmo toy that Max got you for your birthday you start high stepping and dancing around, it is VERY entertaining. You are talking a lot more and it seems like you say a new word almost everyday. You will mimic and repeat words and sounds that you hear. If we ask you what a duck says you will go, “WACK WACK WACK!” You and Max were recently given some little play dinosaurs and you will pick one up and come right up to me and say, “RAWRRRRRR!” Of course you still get your plastic snake and hiss whenever you are holding it. If you see anything round you point and say, “BAWL” and pretty much every animal is still a “DAWG!” You are really beginning to love books and you get really excited when you see books sitting by the lamp because you know that we are going to read them to you before bed. It is truly amazing watching you acquire language. You take direction and understand so much and you are starting to be able to tell us what you want by pointing and saying words, or trying to say words. You are still very attached to your “bankie” and we always know you are sleepy when you grab it and start sucking your thumb.
In Max’s letter I wrote about taking you and Max to the Kids Club at the gym. You have started to have a little bit of separation anxiety when I leave you but it has gotten better and you’ve started to go the ladies there and watch me leave without crying at all. It’s good for you and Max to get used to being away from me and you both enjoy playing with other kids.
I can’t explain how emotional I’ve been in the last month with all of the scares we’ve had. I thank God everyday that you and Max are healthy, happy, beautiful boys. I adore you curly headed boys!
Love,
Mama
