Two Kids Sick!

Katie's struggle with this virus continues. For the past three days I have been applying medicated Blistex lip ointment to her lips and a little to the sores on her face. The sores on her face are looking much better. They have dried up and the red areas around them are shrinking. Her lips are looking a little better too. However, during a close inspection of her lips tonight I found another new sore on the underside/inside of her top lip again. This one doesn't seem to bother her as much as the previous ones and she did let me touch it to apply a little Blistex to the outside of it. I'm curious to see how this one will progress now that the other sores seem to be getting better.

Josh is also sick tonight. This morning he complained of a headache, but we thought it was from lack of sleep since Katie had woken everybody up last night during a bad dream. In her dream she was screaming and saying "Don't take me to the hospital!" None of us got much sleep last night. Tonight, as we were putting Josh to bed, Amy noticed that he felt warm so she took his temperature. He has a fever of just over 100 and he is complaining of the headache again. We'll keep an eye on him through the night and see how he's feeling in the morning. Maybe my parents will have two kids on their hands tomorrow...

Still Coping

Katie had a restful weekend, and shook off some of the nocturnal habits that she was displaying by the end of last week. She is still sleeping heavier during the day than at night but she is getting some balance back. These days of being cooped up with her grandparents, unable to go anywhere or play with any other kids, are schedule altering. She gets bored with nothing to break up her day and she ends up watching a lot of Dora videos and reading a lot of books. She can only watch so much TV and read so many books before the desire to nap overwhelms her. Then, with no reason to wake up, her naps last for hours and by the time bed time rolls around she isn't tired. We all look forward to her getting back to a normal routine some time in the future. We just don't know when that future will be.

The sores on her face and lips are about the same. One heals, another begins to form. I don't think we are making any real progress. One of our readers, Sarah (www.allaboutmollie.blogspot.com), suggested Clindamycin because it worked for her daughter Mollie when she was suffering from something similar. We will ask the doctors about it this Thursday when we go back for another follow-up. We have also been trying warm, moist compresses and most recently some Blistex medicated lip ointment for cold sores. With any luck, some of this will start working to clear up this infection.

A Face Full of Sores and A Swim Suit in January

 

This is Katie as she was playing around the house this evening. Prior to the beach look, she was wearing a princess outfit, but then she declared that she was going to the beach. The next thing I knew, she was parading around the room in her swim suit, grass skirt, sunglasses and hat. The photo op. was too good to pass up.

The sores in her mouth and on her face are about the same today as they were yesterday. She isn't complaining about pain, and she is eating well, but she isn't happy with the creams and ointments that we have been using on the sores. Nothing seems to be helping much any more. We are just waiting it out at this point.

Katie is willing to soak her chapped lips with a warm washcloth, a strategy we are using to encourage the health of her skin, but it is hard to pin her down long enough to make her use the washcloth strategy. She is simply too busy. She watches less television each day. We take this as a good sign that she is feeling well despite all the ugly sores. She is the arts and crafts queen lately--painting and beading were two of her favorite activities today--and she likes to "write." She records her observations in small notebooks, and she uses my laptop. She tells me that I cannot interrupt her while she is working on her "projects." She is actually learning to recognize some letters, and I am thrilled, but it is her attitude as she works on these projects that I really like. She is so determined to do what her brother can do. She wants to be an adult NOW. She is so eager to learn. She will be a great student some day if she can avoid driving her teachers crazy. I'm simply happy to note that she has more energy today than yesterday and that she is growing up quickly in her own quirky way.

End of the Week Information

There are fewer posts on here than I expected to see. I thought Amy had been updating the blog for the last couple of days but I see that wasn't the case. I apologize for the lapse.

Wednesday was a snow day for us. The whole family got to stay home from school and we spent some quality time at home relaxing. Katie was feeling good and was being playful.

Thursday, Amy and Katie went to Fletcher Allen for a follow-up appointment after last week's adventure. The blood tests revealed that Katie's ANC is still low, very low. Her ANC now rests at a whopping 40. Neutrophils that have in the past made up more than 40% of her white blood cells are now only 2% of her white blood cells.

The infection that manifested as a single sore inside Katie's mouth has spread. She now has several sores on her lips and what looks like several more sores developing on her face. At first they just look red and round - like small incidents of acne. But one on her chin has opened up and is now looking more like the sores on her lip than any acne that I have ever seen. The doctors said that the spots on her face could be some kind of reaction to the medication that she is taking now, so Amy and I are going to try giving her a little Bennedryl tomorrow to see what happens. I don't think it will do anything, but at least it will rule out the possibility of a reaction.

Doing Better

Katie slept through the night last night without medication. She fussed a couple of times in the night but never woke up crying. She even woke up in a much better mood this morning and was generally cooperative. Her lips and mouth are looking even better this morning. It seems like things are moving in the right direction.

Healing a Little More

Katie had a good day with Grandpa and Grandma Kelley today. She fussed very little and was quite content. To top it off, she lost the dry, dead skin that was covering her upper and lower lips and hiding what was really there. Her lips look much better and some of the swelling has gone down too, but with the dead skin out of the way, we can see what is left of another open sore that had formed on her upper lip. Apparently, the first sore spread. Despite being able to see the sore now, she is looking much better than yesterday. Maybe tonight she will sleep through the night without pain medication at 2am.