Eczema
So, Buddy has always had dry skin (he
gets it from me) and this winter was particularly brutal to those who suffer
with this. Around his 4 month checkup he started having more red patches but
didn’t seem to be scratching much. His doctor told me to moisturize him using Aquaphor
or Vaseline, but I admit I thought that was a pain and I wasn’t very faithful
about it. It seemed like such a pain and since he didn’t seem bothered by his
skin I didn’t make it a priority. In mid-February Princess got an ear infection
and Buddy got a cold. Prior to this Buddy was sleeping most of the night
through, but since then he hasn’t. His skin also didn’t clear up. He had a spot
on his cheek that got red and then weepy. I put some of my moisturizer on him.
That seemed to help but I worried that maybe it wasn’t okay to use it on a baby
so I stopped. The spot came back and his neck area got really red. About the last
week of March his neck started weeping too. I thought I’d try to wait until his
6 month checkup which was scheduled for April 7th, however the last
weekend of March things exploded. He started getting what looked like
whiteheads all over his body. If they broke open sometimes there was a clear
fluid and other times there was blood mixed with it. He also started scratching
and crying in his sleep. He’d cry every 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours all night long,
waking around 3 to eat a little. So last Monday March 31, I called his doctor
and brought him in about an hour later. When we got there the nurse said she’d
never seen anything like that and he was running a slight fever (now he had
been all closed in to his car seat for over half an hour so that could be why).
The doctor came in and didn’t even get over to the table where he was laying
before diagnosing him as having Severe Eczema. She looked him over and
prescribed an antibiotic and steroid cream as well as an “Eczema Plan” for
future breakouts. Hopefully we can control them before they get that bad again.
From the very first night he has
slept better. Except for last night he has slept 10+ hours without waking. We
have started swaddling him again and he LOVES it. This was suggested by a
friend a couple weeks ago. Though he really liked it, when he started to break
out more, I worried that the swaddling was the cause but it wasn’t. Also, in
less than 2 days there was vast improvement in his skin. Those at Church who
were worried last week couldn’t believe how much he had improved by this past
Sunday. J
At first I felt guilty for waiting so
long to take him in, but after thinking about the way it looked and its course,
I’m not sure he would have gotten the help he needed if we had taken him in
earlier. I think he may have had to get this bad before it was taken seriously,
or at least until the weather warmed up and it was evident that the cause wasn’t
the cold.
He is also SO much more active this
week than he has been. I’m not sure if it was just time or if his skin was
holding him back. He’s been able to roll over for a while, but now he has
discovered that he can use rolling as a form of transportation!! We put him on
the floor and he immediately rolls over and is across the room in seconds. J
He is enjoying playing with his toys even more than he was before. He also
loves it when daddy holds him so that he can stand and pretends to make him
walk. I think he should sit before he crawls and walks but that’s just me. J
Hubby says sitting isn’t fun, moving around is so why would Buddy want to sit.
X-Ray's & Uncertainty
Yesterday I took Buddy in for his 6
month checkup. At his previous checks his doctor has examined his head closely
and commented that she was keeping an eye on it. I had noticed before his 2
week check that his head was slightly misshapen, but tried not to dwell on it
to the point that I’d forget for weeks at a time. I was hoping that it would
correct itself and usually didn’t think much of it as it is not obvious that anything
is abnormal.
Therefore, I was a bit shocked and
taken a back when she said she would like to send him for x-rays that morning
and she wanted to send him to a specialist. After talking a few minutes she
sent us to radiology, when we returned to the exam room he was given his shots
and I waited to hear about the scan results. Basically she was looking for
evidence that two of the bones in his may have fused prematurely. After seeing
the x-ray she said that she would definitely feel more comfortable if he saw a
specialist as the scan was inconclusive. She mentioned setting us up for an
appointment in the capital city rather than the big medical center here in the
state. She said she’d have someone call after the appointment was set up.
I called my Hubby at work to let him
know what was going on. He was completely shocked as he hadn’t realized there
was anything wrong. I thought I’d mentioned it before but maybe not. Anyway, it
was a bit of a rough day as we both tried not to dwell on it too much. It was
hard to know what to think and how to feel. That night after filling in the
rest of the details for Hubby, he said that he’d prefer to see someone at the
medical center as he actually knows some of them through his work and he knows that
they are very familiar with the condition there. I told him that maybe we
should pray that our doctor changes her mind as to where to send us. I also
pointed out that we can always get a second opinion. He agreed that all that
was true.
We had done some research and it
looks like surgery will be required if the bones have fused. There seem to be
two main options depending on how they are fused and a few other factors. One
surgery requires the baby wearing a helmet 23 hours a day for 3-12 months,
while the other surgery has more blood loss but after it is done there shouldn’t
be anything more treatment needed other than a few checkups.
After filling in a few family
members, word started to spread on FB and we posted a prayer request on our
Church’s FB page. I mentioned to a couple people this morning about Hubby’s
preference as to where we are referred. This afternoon I got a call from the
doctor’s office saying that after discussing the situation with doctors in the
capital city, she felt that we should go to the medical center. Hubby says hearing
that answer to prayer is both encouraging and disconcerting as it makes one
wonder if the situation is more serious than the one set of doctors can handle.
I think we shouldn’t “read” too much into it. Either way, we are thankful for
this answer to prayer. Yesterday, we really weren’t sure when the appointment
would be. It was possible that it would be next week but might not be for a
month. Today we know that it is scheduled for next week. We are thankful we don’t
have to wait a long time and yet uncertain about how fast things are moving. I
assume it is quick due to the risks involved if in fact fusion has occurred.
Currently his development is normal and he is not experiencing any ill effects
from this condition. The faster it is resolved the less likely it is that any
will occur.
So we really don’t know anything for
sure, there are just all these possibilities. Yet, we know that our Lord does
know. HE knows and is in control of all of this. Here is part of the request I
posted to our Church family: “Please pray that we would get correct and clear
information and that we would have peace and joy in this. It is hard to know
what to think and how to feel when you get this kind of news, but we KNOW that
we have a powerful and wonderful Heavenly Father and [Buddy] is in HIS hands.”
There has been joy
already. Yesterday after I
got off the phone with Hubby, Buddy was laying on a blanket rolling around and
playing. Princess was supposed to be in time out in the corner of that room
(yeah, I wasn’t thinking), when I hear them both giggling. Princess was sitting
in her time out chair talking to him and encouraging him to move and he was
lapping up the attention from his big sister. Later she started bringing him
various things to play with—some of which weren’t toys—and she was so giddy
about it that he was laughing too. It did my mama’s heart wonders to hear their
joy.
There is peace. At least at this point I believe that both
Hubby & I have peace. We know that all of this can and will work for God’s
glory. Many people have been praying for us, some are friends of friends so we
don’t even know them! When I logged onto FB yesterday there was a post by a
lady in our Church who is battling cancer and had received discouraging news.
She posted some verses she had been encouraged by from Philippians 4 that were
a great encouragement and reminder to me. Pastor came over tonight to share
scripture and prayer with us. That was very encouraging. We are thankful for
all the care and concern from others and for the prayers that God has already
answered as well as the ones He will answer, whether they would be what we
would prefer or not.
Isaiah 55:8-11
King James Version
(KJV)
8 For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the
sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it.
No comments:
Post a Comment