Hug Twice

As I was driving CJ to taekwondo today, he kept telling me it was about to rain.  I kept saying that it was just getting dark out because it was almost night, and that it wasn’t rain.

And then it started raining.  Apparently I am not a meteorologist.  Maybe CJ will be. 

Alexa is doing better.  She is still very rash-y and itchy and miserable, but her swelling is gone and she is on the road to recovery.  I am hoping a short road.  She is very very hard to give medicine to.  I wear more benadryl than she takes.  At least I got all the steroid doses into her.

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On October 27th, Alexa had the MMR vaccine at her well-child appointment.  She seemed fine afterwards, no swelling, fever, or anything like that.

10 days later, she developed a rash that started on her legs and over the next 24 hours spread everywhere, as well as a fever.  The pediatrician’s office made a few stabs at a diagnosis, and eventually, after the fever started, settled on a reaction to the MMR vaccine.  According to my internet research, about 5% of children have a rash 10-14 days after the MMR.

That was Friday.  Today (Sunday), she started to swell.  Her face, her ankles, her hands - all swollen.  I rushed her to urgent care this morning, and after examining her, they called our pediatrician’s office.  The other pedi in the practice was on call, and he met us at their office to examine her himself.  He declared her having a systemic, whole-body allergic reaction.  To something.  He claims the antibiotic she had to treat the ear infection, I am still suspicious about the vaccine itself.  The reaction didn’t start until she’d had 20 doses of the antibiotic, so I find that, well, odd.  The allergic reaction, whatever it is, is happening, and he gave her a steroid treatment in the office as we need to give her more steroids for the next two days.  Oh, and a lot of benadryl.  Around the clock doses.

And we see how she is by tomorrow.  I’ve spent most of today in tears or folding laundry.  I’ve never felt so helplessly scared in my entire life.

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Alexa was evaluated by the early intervention people here this week.  Where I live, early intervention is not a free service.  It is only free when they turn 3 and it goes through the school system.  At 2, we pay on a sliding scale based on income.

We don’t pay.  Apparently we are poorer than I thought. 

So anyway, the evaluators will send me the full report at our services meeting next week, but basically they looked at 9 areas and communication is her big delay one.  Motor skills, cognition, all that stuff was fine.  But communication is not where they expect.

No surprise on my part on that.  I’m kind of bummed but I am okay.

Now on to our services meeting next week… yippee.

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This past weekend was Halloween.  My daughter’s third halloween, in fact (and my son’s 5th), and the very first one that my daughter went trick or treating.  Two years ago she was just born and attached to a bili light to try and make her bilirubin levels go down.  Last year she wasn’t feeling well and so stayed home while I trick or treated with CJ.

But this year she dressed up, she went out, and she even said “trick or treat” (once she got home at least).

I was at an instructor certification camp for taekwondo and missed it all.  And Matt didn’t even take pictures.

I heard it was cute, though.

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