In which we get medical and slightly technical

1. Thank you all for kind messages and prayers.  They are very encouraging and much appreciated!

2. Our nephew/cousin Logan is home from the hospital and doing much better. 

3. Alan:

The short version is this: Alan woke up Monday morning with a fever of 104.3.  We took him immediately to our pediatrician, where we found out his white blood count was over 24,000.  (Average/normal is 4,000 - 10,000).  From there he was moved to the local er to be treated while waiting on a transfer to our Children's hospital.  The fever responded very well on Monday to iv fluids and an antibiotic injection.

Greg and Alan spent Monday night at Children's.  That evening and much of the day Tuesday involved a lot of tests and a lot of visits from specialists.  

The bottom line seems to be fairly uncomplicated, as far as medical things go.  

 - Alan has had a cold/junky cough (we knew that).

 - He has pink eye.  We suspected that on Saturday / Sunday, and figured it would mean a dr. visit on Monday.  He got it from Tyler, who had a mild case and recovered on his own in just 2-3 days.  We don't know where Tyler got it.  It is viral, as opposed to bacterial, which means no meds to treat it, just let it run its course.

 - Alan has an infection in his ear canal.  More commonly known as: swimmer's ear.  No, we haven't been swimming.  Alan has had mounting issues with his ears in the last couple of months.  Since December, we have had an appointment scheduled with an Ear/Nose/Throat dr for the first week of June.  Things just came to a head (ha! Alan's head!) before we could get there.  We will be keeping that appointment, because...

 - Alan's tonsils are about as big as a kid's can get and will need to come out at some point.  Here again, this is something we were aware of, hence the ENT appointment next month.

To recap: it was the incredibly high fever and the high white count that landed Alan in the hospital. After evaluation we know those were most likely caused by the ear infection.  I think I will always laugh when I look back on this admission: my kid was hospitalized for pink eye and swimmer's ear!

In truth, however, my kid was hospitalized because he has a compromised immune system.  Infections are never a thing to be taken lightly with him, because we can never know for sure how well he will - or will not - be able to fight something off on his own.  Sometimes, a little thing can turn to a big thing way too fast.  

We are thankful for God's blessings and care.  We are thankful for cautious doctors that stay on top of things.  We are thankful for the simplicity of pink eye and swimmer's ear!  We are even thankful for the compromised immune system.  It protects the beautiful gift of life Alan was given on December 30, 2007.  As always, we are thankful for that gift, and the courageous family that gave it.