Luke
Now that I finally have a minute to write, I thought I'd blog about Luke's mono-not-mono fiasco.
We returned home from HI almost exactly one month ago. Luke came down with a fever a few days after our return. I didn't think much of it because we'd been going, going, going for almost 2 weeks at that point and our diet hadn't been the best on our trip. He recovered in just 48 hours, so no big deal.
A week went by and he came down with another fever. Again, he recovered quickly and was back in action so while I thought it was odd, I didn't think on it too much.
Another weekish went by and he woke up in the early morning saying that he had chills and that his leg hurt. He borrowed an extra blanket from our room and then went back to sleep. By the time we all got up, he was burning up. 104.4 on the thermometer and he was utterly exhausted. The fever did go down a few degrees and he seemed comfortable. I kept him hydrated and the fever broke in the wee hours of the morning.
But his leg was still sore. He'd had a sore leg about a year ago when he first started playing drums so I really didn't think much of it. He was extremely exhausted and hardly moved from the couch for 2 days so it wasn't a big concern.
As the days went by, he continued to complain about the pain in his groin. I didn't palpitate the area for obvious reasons, but I did take a peak and didn't see any redness or swelling and he said he didn't feel any swelling so I decided we'd wait it out and check with our chiro when we saw him next.
Then there was some redness. And then some swelling. And then more redness. And more pain. He couldn't walk without it hurting. He was also extremely exhausted still. Ben and I were convinced he had a bad virus and after talking it over decided that maybe it was mono mainly due to the extreme exhaustion.
Our chiro tested him and found him positive for Epstein Barr virus which is the underlying infection that often leads to mono. We thought we had our culprit and that with plenty of rest, homeopathy, and such he'd be back on his feet. Of course, mono can take time to get over so we didn't expect it to be overnight.
We also didn't expect the swelling and redness to continue. Finally I called the Dr. They couldn't get us in for 4 days. I called urgent care and they said that if it was a badly swollen lymph node that they recommended the ER.
The chiro was able to get us in. He spent about 40 minutes with us. After giving Luke a high dose os a specific enzyme, he did some lymph massage. Where Luke was unable to even straighten the bad leg fully, he was able to get it completely straight and was walking much better after our appt! After a long nap, the redness and swelling had greatly reduced.
I was feeling pretty good about it at this point. We'd bought some of the enzymes and made sure he took them faithfully. I continued the lymph massage. He was still so tired, but we though that was just to be expected.
By the next morning the swelling was back to where it had been before and I was feeling pretty concerned. My mom had dropped by some essiac tea which I started to give him. A friend gave us some CBD salve which I applied. The pain intensified to where he was in agony even while lying still.
Finally, he said he wanted to go to the ER. Up until that point, I'd been dreading an ER visit because we thought it was an inflamed lymph node and we weren't sure what the ER could really do. I envisioned being there for hours upon hours with him being subjected to all kinds of tests. Since we don't vaccinate, I really dreaded any confrontation. And sometimes hospitals can be known for all kinds of interventions. At this point, however, I felt peace about going. God reminded me that I didn't need to be fearful.
I texted Ben to head home from the store and I started getting us ready to go in. I began praying that God would send us just the right Dr. and nurse. We were soon on our way.
Our ER experience was as good as it can get. I felt so blessed. We breezed right in and everyone was so friendly and fantastic. The dr. took one look and said that it wasn't a lymph node at all, but it was an abscess. We were shocked because we had no idea what would have caused an abscess there.
Due to the size of it she had to numb him up and drain it. It was horrific! Luke did SO well during the procedure. I was bursting with pride.
In all, we probably spent only 3 hours in the ER. They waited about 30 minutes after the procedure to discharge since he had drugs in his system. But otherwise they were very efficient at getting us out of there.
He was a bit loopy, but otherwise he was feeling pretty well. He could immediately walk better, which was great to see.
After a stop at Walgreens to pick up his antibiotics we headed home. It was 11pm by then and we were exhausted. The dressing already needed to be changed and we had to get him to swallow a pill for the first time ever. Everyone slept like a rock!
The packing will need to come out in a few days and he'll be taking antibiotics for 10 days.
Thankfully we see our Dr. on Tuesday. I'm curious as to how the abscess started and if that's why he was so tired. I believe the EBV testing is accurate, but is there more to that diagnosis?
I'm hoping we get more answers, but I'm relieved the worst of it is past!
The chiro was able to get us in. He spent about 40 minutes with us. After giving Luke a high dose os a specific enzyme, he did some lymph massage. Where Luke was unable to even straighten the bad leg fully, he was able to get it completely straight and was walking much better after our appt! After a long nap, the redness and swelling had greatly reduced.
I was feeling pretty good about it at this point. We'd bought some of the enzymes and made sure he took them faithfully. I continued the lymph massage. He was still so tired, but we though that was just to be expected.
By the next morning the swelling was back to where it had been before and I was feeling pretty concerned. My mom had dropped by some essiac tea which I started to give him. A friend gave us some CBD salve which I applied. The pain intensified to where he was in agony even while lying still.
Finally, he said he wanted to go to the ER. Up until that point, I'd been dreading an ER visit because we thought it was an inflamed lymph node and we weren't sure what the ER could really do. I envisioned being there for hours upon hours with him being subjected to all kinds of tests. Since we don't vaccinate, I really dreaded any confrontation. And sometimes hospitals can be known for all kinds of interventions. At this point, however, I felt peace about going. God reminded me that I didn't need to be fearful.
I texted Ben to head home from the store and I started getting us ready to go in. I began praying that God would send us just the right Dr. and nurse. We were soon on our way.
Our ER experience was as good as it can get. I felt so blessed. We breezed right in and everyone was so friendly and fantastic. The dr. took one look and said that it wasn't a lymph node at all, but it was an abscess. We were shocked because we had no idea what would have caused an abscess there.
Due to the size of it she had to numb him up and drain it. It was horrific! Luke did SO well during the procedure. I was bursting with pride.
In all, we probably spent only 3 hours in the ER. They waited about 30 minutes after the procedure to discharge since he had drugs in his system. But otherwise they were very efficient at getting us out of there.
He was a bit loopy, but otherwise he was feeling pretty well. He could immediately walk better, which was great to see.
After a stop at Walgreens to pick up his antibiotics we headed home. It was 11pm by then and we were exhausted. The dressing already needed to be changed and we had to get him to swallow a pill for the first time ever. Everyone slept like a rock!
The packing will need to come out in a few days and he'll be taking antibiotics for 10 days.
Thankfully we see our Dr. on Tuesday. I'm curious as to how the abscess started and if that's why he was so tired. I believe the EBV testing is accurate, but is there more to that diagnosis?
I'm hoping we get more answers, but I'm relieved the worst of it is past!
We returned home from HI almost exactly one month ago. Luke came down with a fever a few days after our return. I didn't think much of it because we'd been going, going, going for almost 2 weeks at that point and our diet hadn't been the best on our trip. He recovered in just 48 hours, so no big deal.
A week went by and he came down with another fever. Again, he recovered quickly and was back in action so while I thought it was odd, I didn't think on it too much.
Another weekish went by and he woke up in the early morning saying that he had chills and that his leg hurt. He borrowed an extra blanket from our room and then went back to sleep. By the time we all got up, he was burning up. 104.4 on the thermometer and he was utterly exhausted. The fever did go down a few degrees and he seemed comfortable. I kept him hydrated and the fever broke in the wee hours of the morning.
But his leg was still sore. He'd had a sore leg about a year ago when he first started playing drums so I really didn't think much of it. He was extremely exhausted and hardly moved from the couch for 2 days so it wasn't a big concern.
As the days went by, he continued to complain about the pain in his groin. I didn't palpitate the area for obvious reasons, but I did take a peak and didn't see any redness or swelling and he said he didn't feel any swelling so I decided we'd wait it out and check with our chiro when we saw him next.
Then there was some redness. And then some swelling. And then more redness. And more pain. He couldn't walk without it hurting. He was also extremely exhausted still. Ben and I were convinced he had a bad virus and after talking it over decided that maybe it was mono mainly due to the extreme exhaustion.
Our chiro tested him and found him positive for Epstein Barr virus which is the underlying infection that often leads to mono. We thought we had our culprit and that with plenty of rest, homeopathy, and such he'd be back on his feet. Of course, mono can take time to get over so we didn't expect it to be overnight.
We also didn't expect the swelling and redness to continue. Finally I called the Dr. They couldn't get us in for 4 days. I called urgent care and they said that if it was a badly swollen lymph node that they recommended the ER.
The chiro was able to get us in. He spent about 40 minutes with us. After giving Luke a high dose os a specific enzyme, he did some lymph massage. Where Luke was unable to even straighten the bad leg fully, he was able to get it completely straight and was walking much better after our appt! After a long nap, the redness and swelling had greatly reduced.
I was feeling pretty good about it at this point. We'd bought some of the enzymes and made sure he took them faithfully. I continued the lymph massage. He was still so tired, but we though that was just to be expected.
By the next morning the swelling was back to where it had been before and I was feeling pretty concerned. My mom had dropped by some essiac tea which I started to give him. A friend gave us some CBD salve which I applied. The pain intensified to where he was in agony even while lying still.
Finally, he said he wanted to go to the ER. Up until that point, I'd been dreading an ER visit because we thought it was an inflamed lymph node and we weren't sure what the ER could really do. I envisioned being there for hours upon hours with him being subjected to all kinds of tests. Since we don't vaccinate, I really dreaded any confrontation. And sometimes hospitals can be known for all kinds of interventions. At this point, however, I felt peace about going. God reminded me that I didn't need to be fearful.
I texted Ben to head home from the store and I started getting us ready to go in. I began praying that God would send us just the right Dr. and nurse. We were soon on our way.
Our ER experience was as good as it can get. I felt so blessed. We breezed right in and everyone was so friendly and fantastic. The dr. took one look and said that it wasn't a lymph node at all, but it was an abscess. We were shocked because we had no idea what would have caused an abscess there.
Due to the size of it she had to numb him up and drain it. It was horrific! Luke did SO well during the procedure. I was bursting with pride.
In all, we probably spent only 3 hours in the ER. They waited about 30 minutes after the procedure to discharge since he had drugs in his system. But otherwise they were very efficient at getting us out of there.
He was a bit loopy, but otherwise he was feeling pretty well. He could immediately walk better, which was great to see.
After a stop at Walgreens to pick up his antibiotics we headed home. It was 11pm by then and we were exhausted. The dressing already needed to be changed and we had to get him to swallow a pill for the first time ever. Everyone slept like a rock!
The packing will need to come out in a few days and he'll be taking antibiotics for 10 days.
Thankfully we see our Dr. on Tuesday. I'm curious as to how the abscess started and if that's why he was so tired. I believe the EBV testing is accurate, but is there more to that diagnosis?
I'm hoping we get more answers, but I'm relieved the worst of it is past!
The chiro was able to get us in. He spent about 40 minutes with us. After giving Luke a high dose os a specific enzyme, he did some lymph massage. Where Luke was unable to even straighten the bad leg fully, he was able to get it completely straight and was walking much better after our appt! After a long nap, the redness and swelling had greatly reduced.
I was feeling pretty good about it at this point. We'd bought some of the enzymes and made sure he took them faithfully. I continued the lymph massage. He was still so tired, but we though that was just to be expected.
By the next morning the swelling was back to where it had been before and I was feeling pretty concerned. My mom had dropped by some essiac tea which I started to give him. A friend gave us some CBD salve which I applied. The pain intensified to where he was in agony even while lying still.
Finally, he said he wanted to go to the ER. Up until that point, I'd been dreading an ER visit because we thought it was an inflamed lymph node and we weren't sure what the ER could really do. I envisioned being there for hours upon hours with him being subjected to all kinds of tests. Since we don't vaccinate, I really dreaded any confrontation. And sometimes hospitals can be known for all kinds of interventions. At this point, however, I felt peace about going. God reminded me that I didn't need to be fearful.
I texted Ben to head home from the store and I started getting us ready to go in. I began praying that God would send us just the right Dr. and nurse. We were soon on our way.
Our ER experience was as good as it can get. I felt so blessed. We breezed right in and everyone was so friendly and fantastic. The dr. took one look and said that it wasn't a lymph node at all, but it was an abscess. We were shocked because we had no idea what would have caused an abscess there.
Due to the size of it she had to numb him up and drain it. It was horrific! Luke did SO well during the procedure. I was bursting with pride.
In all, we probably spent only 3 hours in the ER. They waited about 30 minutes after the procedure to discharge since he had drugs in his system. But otherwise they were very efficient at getting us out of there.
He was a bit loopy, but otherwise he was feeling pretty well. He could immediately walk better, which was great to see.
After a stop at Walgreens to pick up his antibiotics we headed home. It was 11pm by then and we were exhausted. The dressing already needed to be changed and we had to get him to swallow a pill for the first time ever. Everyone slept like a rock!
The packing will need to come out in a few days and he'll be taking antibiotics for 10 days.
Thankfully we see our Dr. on Tuesday. I'm curious as to how the abscess started and if that's why he was so tired. I believe the EBV testing is accurate, but is there more to that diagnosis?
I'm hoping we get more answers, but I'm relieved the worst of it is past!
Comments
Post a Comment