Nathan's Week

Do you ever wonder what is going to happen in any given day or the near future that you don't know about yet? Not really a fearful thought, just a thought. What is in store for this week. I don't know where to start this post so I'll just give you a run down of our week.


Monday: Nathan woke up from his afternoon nap crying. This happens sometimes, but this time he didn't snap out of it. We noticed he was holding his neck funny and didn't want us to move it. He was also running a low temperature. The stiff neck scared us so we called our doctor's office. They advised us to watch him closely and make sure the temperature didn't get too high.


Tuesday: Nathan woke up still fussy and not turning his head. He also wasn't eating anything and drinking very little. I made an appointment at the doctor's. I thought we'd go in, he'd tell us what the problem was maybe give Nate a prescription and we'd go home. He checked for strep throat, but that was negative. He finally told me he was concerned because he couldn't figure out the problem. This of course made me even more concerned. He sent us to the lab right away for blood work. Nathan did not enjoy having his blood taken, I cried right along with him. Then we went home to wait. The results from the blood worked showed his white blood cell count was 16,000. That's high, but the doctor didn't feel we had to do anything right then. He told us as long as the Tylenol or ibuprofen kept the temperature down and if he was drinking at least something we didn't have to head into the ER that night, but he wanted to see him again in the morning. If I didn't sleep well Monday night Tuesday night was even worse. Nathan would wake up crying and I could tell he just wasn't comfortable. His temperature stayed down if we kept him on medicine.



Wednesday: Not much different. About 1 to 2 hours after he'd have ibuprofen he'd crawl off the couch and try to play a little. He still wasn't moving his neck. He also wouldn't eat hardly anything and was drinking very little. He'd be up for about an hour then he's start to complain again and say "Seep, seep" (sleep). Back to the doctor we went. I should say by this time, I was exhausted and even more emotional than usual. This time we were sent for a neck x-ray. About 5 minute's before they called us back I remembered that they wouldn't let me anywhere near an x-ray machine because I'm pregnant. It was too late to try to call Jeremy so I just decided to go ahead. I don't know about you, but I like to be with my kids when they are going through things that our unfamiliar. It was not easy to leave Nate with the x-ray technicians and walk out of the room listening to his crying. More tears. I'm pregnant, they were very kind and understanding. Back to the doc to find out the results. There was some swelling in the neck. Probably infection. He was sending us straight to the ER for a CT scan. I left the office in tears. Jeremy would meet us at the ER.



I'm sure I looked a site walking into the ER with my big belly and trying to carry a 30 lb sick boy wrapped in a blanket. Fighting the tears. Why do I have to keep crying? Jeremy walked in while we were registering. Many, many more tears. When Jeremy's around I don't have to be a strong. Seeing him walk in was such a relief. I'm crying while I right this. I'm pregnant, please be understanding. :)

We signed in at 2:00. I've never experienced an ER before. The nurses and everyone were great, but let me tell you it's not fun sitting for hours on end waiting and waiting. they were really busy. I think it was about 2 hours before we saw the doctor. I'll try to keep this short (I know, I've already failed). Nathan just sat on our laps or asked to "seep" and laid on the bed and slept. Putting in the IV was not fun. They finally sent us for a CT scat. So Glad Jeremy was able to be with Nate the whole time. I was able to watch from another room. Back to the ER for more waiting. Some thing's wrong with the IV. It all has to be redone in the other arm. Finally hear the results. There is some sort of abscess in the neck. Sometimes these things can be taken care of with antibiotics, sometimes surgery. It looks like we could be heading to Hershey or Geisinger for surgery. Can this really be happening? The ENT doctor is recommending we transfer. However, Hershey is saying it might not be necessary. (I hope I'm getting this all right. I've listened to so much lately, it gets a little blurry). Now we're seeing a hospital doctor instead of the ER doctor. They are going to admit us instead of transferring for now. More waiting. It was 9:30 before we finally got to a room. About 1:00 AM before the nurse told us they wouldn't be bugging us for at least 2 hours. Thanks.

Thursday: Nathan is still pretty out of it and not moving his neck and doesn't want to eat anything or drink. No longer has a temperature. Thank you Lord! The ENT Doctor sees us at 5:00. He wants to see his white blood cell count go down by the next morning and see him drinking something. If this doesn't happen we'll be transferring to another hospital. Praying, praying. Nathan did have an awake time of being happy and moving around some without the aid of Tylenol in the evening. Drank a little. Definitely seeing some improvement. Praying, praying.

Friday: Blood cell count is down to 11,000. Nate is definitely improving. Still not moving his head, but looking and acting much better. Looks like we'll be staying.

Saturday: This is getting way too long. I'll end it by saying, we're home! Nathan is feeling much better. I don't know how we would have entertained him much longer in the hospital. He was about to start climping the walls. The ENT doctor would have had us stay at least until tomorrow or Monday so he could stay on the stronger antibiotics, but isn't against us coming home if we keep a close eye on him. Another doc is saying he's fine. Our decision was to bring him home. He will be on antibiotics for 10 days.

I'll be amazed if anyone is still reading this. :) We are so grateful for all your prayers this week. We believe God is healing Nathan. He was such a trooper. He got so sick of being poked and listened too. He (and I!) especially did not enjoy the 5:30 or 6:00 AM blood work.

Isaiah is doing great. He has spent time with my aunt and uncle and grandma and is now with Jeremy's parents. We'll pick him up tonight. I miss him a lot, but he seems to be having fun. Nathan often would ask for "zaha?". they talked on the phone a little this morning. Nathan just kept smiling and saying "Hi, Zaha, hi zaha". I love my boys. Now I'm ready for all four of us to be home!




Very common sight for the first day or so. I think the Lord prompted me to grab this blanket before heading out the door on Wednesday. My mom made it for him and it was something familiar for him.
Starting to improve. Trying to eat a cut up hamburger. (Lovely hospital food). He wouldn't touch ice cream or Popsicles -very odd. He wanted a lot of bread at first. And asked for candy ALL THE TIME.

Up and smiling and playing games with "Puppy".
Enjoying a wagon ride from Pappy. You can see how he's holding his head. This is getting better.

Waiting for one more dose of meds so we can go home. Watching TV. He was pretty spoiled. When we finally got him outside. he just kept grinning and saying "outside!" "outside!". :)