Name that microbe

 

 

Like I said earlier, Jackson has been very sick. We had two visits to the doctor where the PA said it was just a stomach virus. Yesterday at the doctor’s office, Jackson happened to have a diaper with bloody diarrhea in it. It was like a switch was flipped and the PA finally acted as if we were dealing with something other than a virus. He ordered a blood test and fecal test. It took three adults (one of them Colin) to hold Jackson still for the blood test. Boy, can my son scream bloody murder. The lab techs kept saying how strong he is. The blood test came back normal, which probably means he picked up parasites or bacterium. The fecal test is going to take up to 5 days for them to get the results. 

In the 2-3 weeks before he got sick, I can count 5 different bodies of water he played in. My money is on Giardia (animals carry the parasite and poop in the mountain streams). Jackson plays in the water and then eats his snack without washing his hands is the scenario I am imagining.

 

As we wait for the results of the culture, all we can do is to manage the fever. That’s hard to do with a obstinate toddler that doesn’t want to take medicine. I was running out of ways to coax him into it. Fortunately, the best aunt ever came to visit Jackson and brought him a gun that blows bubbles. He gets to blow bubbles if he takes his medicine is the new deal.

He wanted to keep his green dinosaur “bandaid” on for a long time after the blood test. The irony in all this is that he has been more work than my newborn is. He also keeps us up at night more than Annie. Last night, Annie “slept through the night” for the first time, which really just means she had a 5 hour stretch. 

If you want to know what to pray for, pray that the test comes back quickly so he can get the appropriate treatment soon.