Kyler's Grand Adventure

I am sitting in Kyler's freezing cold hospital room as the first of the series of doctors has come in to check on him. The first doctor that came in is the pediatric resident. The next one that we are expecting is his pediatrician; the next one is the communicable disease specialist, and then maybe his neuropsychiatrist. This all started last week when Kyler started running a fever and was queasy. We kept him home from school on Monday and Christy took him to the doctor to find out if this was a reaction to some new medications that he was on. The doctor assured her that it was not a reaction and that she should take him to his pediatrician because it was probably a virus. The pediatrician agreed that it was a virus, had some blood drawn and sent him home with the instructions that if it got worse to bring him back in. Christy and I debated on Friday morning whether to bring him back in or not because he had not got worse, but he really was not any better. Christy insisted that she take him in, and the doctor admitted him to the hospital with the suspicion that he might have measles due to a rash that had taken over most of his upper body and his eyes. I think the thing that tipped her off to the depth of the sickness was the fact that Kyler has not eaten anything in a week. Anyone that knows Kyler knows that it is hard to get him full, and he usually eats non-stop when he is home. His pediatrician said that it would be very unusual and rare for this to be measles since he has been immunized against it, but because he was so sick, it would be better to have him in the hospital. He was placed in isolation when he was admitted to the pediatric ward in the UVRMC. Christy and I were given very fashionable pink wristbands that have a code on them that give us access to the pediatric area. I spent the night on Friday on the hide-a-very-uncomfortable-cot, and Christy slept over on Saturday night. The results of the definitive measles test have not been returned yet, but all of the doctors concur that what he has is the result on a drug reaction and was life-threatening if it would have gone un-diagnosed any longer. Credit Christy for being persistent and saving his life. He is going in for an MRI an a few minutes and he should be able to go home today.

I have now been typing long enough that doctor #2 has come in, but he came out of order. The communicable disease specialist has now released him to go home, but says that he will be out of school for the at least the rest of the week, and he needs to get his energy back.
On another note, I did not get the job in St. George that I had interviewed for. The person that was hired was promoted in the St. George office, so now her position is open. This is what I had anticipated would happen, and if they decide to fill her vacated supervisor position (they may not due to budget restrictions), I will apply for that job. I have a much better shot at that one than I had at the one I previously interviewed for.

Our family wants to thank all of those that offered help, thoughts and prayers to us during this difficult time. Kyler enjoyed the card and balloons that he got from the ward and the family enjoyed the lasagna that was brought over on Saturday and not having to pay for meals at the hospital. Thanks for thinking of us.