Day 77.....Seriously????

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

On Monday morning Luca woke up complaining that his tummy did not feel right.  My parents came to the apartment a short time later to say their goodbyes as they were heading back to Santa Fe after a nice weekend together.  As I ran some of Dillon's blood samples to the clinic, Nana proceeded to make Dillon some eggs and watermelon.  Luca refused breakfast....hummmmm...this is not normal at all.  By the time I got back to the apartment my mom was in the process of cleaning up the couch and the floor and the coffee table....you guessed it....in the mere 30 minutes that I was gone Luca's "not right tummy" proceeded to spew all over the place.  On the inside I am screaming........ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????  SERIOUSLY???? THIS HAS GOT TO BE A JOKE!!!!!!  On the outside I comfort my slightly green boy.....although he claimed he was completely better after throwing up what looked to be last night's dinner.  We had previously discussed on many occasions that if he were to be sick at home he would have to miss a visit and he if were to get sick here he would have to go home early....so he was definitely trying to convince me...if not himself.....that he was fine now and absolutely did not need to leave Denver.

After some tears and lots of hugs, Luca conceded and was swept away.  My folks returned to a hotel room (which they had just checked out of) to give Luca's belly a day and a night to see if it was just something he ate or if it was in fact a contagious illness of some sort.  After several hours of feeling "okay" and even swimming, he retired to his roll-away bed in the room and was very nauseous most of the night.  He never did get a fever and he did not vomit any more but the decision was made that he indeed needed to return to Santa Fe to recover and to avoid spreading his illness to either Dillon or I (hoping that we had not already shared the germs beforehand.....cross all your fingers!!!!)  My sweet and courageous Luca made this statement to me on the phone before his departure to Santa Fe...."Mama, I feel pretty good and I did not throw up any more but it would be safer for me not to be around Dillon right now!"  He wanted to come to the apartment for a final hug good bye and he even offered to wear a mask so he would not breathe on his brother.  During the hugs with me he told me this....."Mama, I am a little bit sad and a little bit happy about going home....I can't wait to see Copper (our cat) but I will miss you and brother."  Ahhhh, that boy never ceases to amaze me.  He will return on Friday with Sean if he is officially better....besides, he needed to get his hockey stick so he could go skating with a guy that works here at Brent's Place :))

Dillon has been showing some vague signs of his gut GVH rearing its ugly head.  The past 5 mornings he has vomited shortly after arising.  He has phlegm in his throat and he clears it constantly throughout the day and his appetite is wavering.  These are all reminiscent, albeit less severe, of the GVH before it was identified and treated.  This all began before Luca became ill so I don't think that Dillon has the bug that Luca had, but I will keep a very close watch to see if the symptoms progress and are more consistent with an actual illness than with the GVH.  I have not talked with the doctors yet about my suspicions but I think that their response is going to be to go back up on the dose of steroid until the symptoms settle back down.  My understanding is that "curing" GVH can be a bit of a seesaw like that...start with a dose, go down a few times, symptoms crop up so go back up a little, give it a week and then go down again.....etc.  Each person is different in how quickly their gut heals and how sensitive they are to the symptoms that can recur when the steroid is lowered. 

As a result of this jumpy belly, Dillon and I had a totally mellow day at the apartment together.  We read, we did flash cards, we wrote letters, and we started a puzzle (which Dillon absolutely had no interest in but when he saw that I was going to do it without him he decided to help and he ended up enjoying it a lot) :))

Sean and Luca will be here for the weekend.  Luca is actually going to be staying for an extended period of time, probably until he has to go back to school after winter break, which ends January 7.  Hey, lots of kids miss 2 weeks of school when they get a bad flu....besides, we do lots of learning when we are together and having Luca feel more emotionally connected is a much bigger benefit in his life than missing his class play and a few other events at school.  When I talked to him about what he would be missing at school (I wanted to be sure he understood the gravity of being out of school for several weeks) he told me...."Mom, that is just friends and school.....THIS IS MY FAMILY!!!"   Enough said.

My dad arranged for me to get a massage for my birthday, which has not happened yet because things have been crazy here....have I said that before???  I don't know where all the time goes!  Anyway....while Sean is here I plan to cash in on that gift.  My back can't wait :)))

Still praying for snow...how about you???