Thursday, January 31, 2008

Strep Throat

Hopefully the last of the winter illnesses, Cain became sick late last week with a sore throat and high fever, I went a few days after that, so we knew it was a virus. We took Cain to the doctor because despite lots of vitamins and Tylenol he was getting no better. X- rays, nose and throat swabs and a large doctors fee, they told us it was not the flu, his chest was clear and the initial throat swab was negative for strep. The following day we got a call to get some antibiotics because it was strep throat. Then Dylan started coughing but no fever yet. Took him to clinic with a mask on and they took a throat swab pending results before they will prescribe antibiotics. This morning Dylan woke with a very high fever, so I guess the strep has finally caught him too. So far Tim is fine, but for some reason he rarely gets sick. Dylan also had a HAMA test while he was at clinic, and we got the official print outs of the MIBG and Ct scans that show Dylan is still stable. The bone marrow results are clear (negative) which is great. The team has scheduled a PET scan for Dylan in a few weeks, apparently they are scheduling all the kids because Dr Cheung said that only the PET scan can determine dead or live cells, so I guess it will be interesting to know if this “stable” disease is actually dead or not. I can’t imagine that it is when his urine markers are still elevated and outside normal ranges, but that’s a question I will ask the team after we do this PET scan. Strep throat, never hard of it until I came to America, there’s a lot of things I had not heard of til I came here. Strep throat, Mmmmm kind of like a designer brand for an illness “Strep” LOL. When I left Australia the only name brands I knew were Reebok and Ray ban, in New York it’s all about name brands and designer labels! Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, Burberry, Prada, Armani, Louis Vuitton and Coach. When I first heard someone say they saw a beautiful Coach they wanted, I thought they were talking about some kind of car! Now I not only know that a “Coach” is a bag but I also know what they look like! After 3 years here now (26th Jan) I am now officially a Manhattanite…I think, well most of the time. People ask me directions, and I know where to send them, and people ask me where stores are and I can name the streets off the top of my head, and when I watch Sex and the City, I get all the New York reference jokes I never fully understood before. Strep Throat, yes I have a designer virus LOL. Well, not much to do but watch TV and look around the room from the sofa bed, trying to figure out a way of arranging the room so it appears more spacious. After many hours of re-arranging the room in my head, I have discovered that no matter how I do it, it’s not going to get any bigger, it’s a small room! So the best I did was change the kids Pajama drawer into the now “medicine drawer” and amuse myself by watching Dylan roll his eyes at me every time he goes to open the drawer to get his pajamas LOL. Cain’s doing better at school, while he has been away sick, his phone has been ringing and beeping with messages. I ask who it is and he replies “a friend from school” I ask if it’s a girl or boy and he sheepishly replies “a girl” I ask her name and he says “you don’t know her”. Yes he is officially a teen. He gets home from school these days, heads to the park to shoot some hoops and answers his cell phone with “hey man, what’s up?” I have been away from Cain so long that it feels like he turned from a little boy to a teenager overnight, or maybe that happens anyway. I’m just waiting for his voice to break then that will totally freak me out! Back to the Strep throat, Dylan woke so early with the fever that I am also awake at this ridiculous hour writing this update, so I will attempt to get some more sleep now, poor Tim continues to put up with my tossing and turning, huffing and puffing as I fight with the pillow to allow myself to sleep higher up so I can actually breathe.