Not for the faint of heart

Our Ivan boy was very, very sick this week.

On Thursday he woke up with a rash all over his body. He didn't have any other symptoms. I tried not to panic.  I tried to be rational and calm.  I should have just given in to my maternal instincts and freaked out right then and there.  Because on Friday he woke up with a 103-degree fever and swelling in his hands, feet, and face.  The fever wasn't coming down with Tylenol.  The swelling was getting worse.  His whole body was covered in a dark red rash that was turning dusky--kind of a blue/gray color.  He was lethargic and his eyes were dry-looking.  By afternoon I was scared.  I took him to the doctor.  I think the doctor was scared, too.

She ruled out a couple of possibilities (including allergies and scarlet fever).  There were three other possible explanations, two of which could have been deadly.  None of them had "easy" treatments like antibiotics.  And it would have required hospitalization to find out exactly what was going on.  So she sent us home with instructions that if certain other symptoms developed, we were supposed to take him to the E.R.

That night, his Dad and his Uncle gave him a blessing.  We gave him B.enadryl and S.ingulair for the swelling. 

In the morning, he had improved to this: 

I know it still looks terrible, but to me it was so great to see some clear skin and a smiley boy.  The fever had broken and the swelling had gone down.  I believe we had a miracle with our little boy.