Lately my life has been surrounding doctors appointments for J! Little (now officially 2 year old) J has been battling a series of rashes and reactions for the better part of the past 3 weeks, culminating to a very difficult past 2 weeks. He's been miserable. The scary part was that at one point we had 3 separate Pedi's at the same time examining him and they had no idea what was going on. No diagnosis, no suggestions, nothing. As a parent, when 3 doctors flat out tell you "Sorry, we have no idea what this is but we want him seen by a specialist ASAP", is somewhat terrifying.
When I originally took him in for this, I was told "He has hives and contact dermatitis on his leg. It will clear up on it's own." When it didn't and got far worse it became "I have no idea, let's ask these other doctors- nope they've got nothing either." Frustrating and scary and of course everyone you know has a theory and a remedy, which while always appreciated can sometimes add to the daunting feeling of "This could be anything".
So, we were told to start looking at insect bites. Then it became the panic of "My God, we might have bed bugs!!!" That was an extra stressful and terrifying two days/nights. Finally, I was able to get an exterminator to come through, thankfully no bed bugs- the relief was huge. What he did confirm for us was no bed bugs- but we have SPIDERS!! Thankfully spiders are somewhat easier to get rid of than bed bugs (which, if you've ever been cursed with, my heart immediately goes out to you. The extermination costs alone were astronomical and even with that you still have all the labor intensive cleaning. It's daunting and I'm so happy we didn't end up needing to go through that). However this experience has left me a little bug paranoid now, as though an infestation is right around the corner- regardless of how much I clean. Eventually, I'll let that go- or at least I hope so.
We cleared the Spiders out and took preventative steps and YAY no more bites. However, the bites J has sustained in the mean time had made his rash several times worse and far more wide spread. Several trips to the doctor and the specialist later: he is "hypo-allergic" to spider and insect bites. We were praised for our efforts at home and given some prescriptions to help his healing along. While he's still battling discomfort, things are finally starting to clear.
Gabriel and Micah:
Seeing my "baby" go through such discomfort and not being able to help him was hard. It's difficult to watch our children be ill but our issue was still minor. I didn't have the worry of "what will happen to my child?" It's why I can't even imagine how the family of little Gabriel and Micah must feel. Ours was a temporary discomfort, no life-threatening battle, I can't imagine the heartbreak of a chronic and terrifying illness in your children.
The Unicorn has been a favorite place of mine for a while. It's been run by a wonderful family with hearts so big. Recently they said their final"Goodbye" and they closed their doors. This is because this awesome family puts family first. Little 17 month old Gabriel and 7 week old Micah are battling Glycerol Kinase Deficiency a rare genetic disease. I'm sharing this here because if you live in my area- there will be a benefit for these sweethearts in October. So please mark your calendars (information below). If you're one of my readers from far and wide- you can still donate to their family if you feel so moved. If you can't donate, you can educate. If you click their "Go Fund Me" link you can share their story on your facebook and help spread the word for this family.
My family has been blessed by theirs, they are truly wonderful and caring people. They have the prayers of my family and our support. I can't imagine watching my children go through an illness like this one, where things can go from stable to critical in minutes.
Here is a link to their GoFundMe page: as of now only at 200 dollars, and here is their information regarding the benefit.
Thank you for reading! More updates coming soon!