The story so far

To say that February was a very rough-and-tumble month would be an understatement. The family have had its share of ups and downs in the past, but not like this.

We kicked off February with Julian's second birthday, which was a roaring success. We had none of those fun games or mascots or clowns — just the usual cake-and-ice-cream-and-balloons kiddie party, but it was FUN. Julian and his kuya Gabriel had fun, their friends, too, and that's all that mattered. Julian has grown up to be a very mischievous kid, but who isn't at that age? We hope his countless mischief and goofiness stay cute as he grows up.

Two weeks after that, though, it went a bit downhill for us. Julian caught a bug that had him getting 40-degree fevers. It did not start that way, however. Over the weekend, he was his usual ebullient self: running around, wrecking the house. By Sunday afternoon, he was running a high fever that kept us awake that night until early morning. We decided to bring him to his pediatrician the next day.

The doctor saw pus growing in his left tonsil and ordered blood chemistry tests and urinalysis. He got better by noon time, but late in the afternoon, his fever shot up to 40°C. We decided to have him admitted to the hospital. Peng and I were scared — *I* was scared sh*tless. The initial findings from the tests were that Julian had blood infection, the source of which the doctor couldn't get a fix on at that time, so she ordered more tests.

We were afraid it was dengue fever as Julian had been spending most of his days out in the yard. Dengue was ruled out, however. It wasn't a recurrence of his urinary tract infection, either. Nor was it anything he ate. By our third day in the hospital, Julian was responding to the two antibiotics (Cloxacillin and Ceftriaxone -- broad-spectrum antibiotics, from what I later learned from the doctor since she can't find a focus on the infection). We had to stay in the hospital for eight days.

It was a very painful and stressful eight days, specially for Julian. He wasn't used to staying in bed so we often had to carry him out in the hallway, near the windows facing the street — anything to ease his boredom. I even brought in his favorite videos and a DVD player. He was so restless during his stay at the hospital that his IV line had to be changed several times: first from his left feet, then his left hand (twice!), then on to his right hand. He got used to seeing nurses coming into the room to check on him that he would readily offer his arm for the meds. And the crying during the first few days were harrowing, to say the least.

The doctor never really determined the cause of the infection. The blood chem showed his CRP (C-reactive protein) and white blood cell count to be abnormally high, signs of infection and inflammation. He also had anemia, which was later determined as nutritional iron deficiency. We were preparing for the worst, all the time constantly praying that it was nothing really serious. (The bathroom became my confessional as I didn't want to show Peng and the kids I was crying for several nights.) We were praying that his fever doesn't shoot up as it did during the first three days — each time we took a temp reading was a suspenseful event.

It was also very stressful for Gabriel: he had to stay at home with the yaya and my mother-in-law, and could only visit the hospital after school. He was set to join the MTAP Math Challenge finals that week to represent his school — they placed third.

That was the longest week in our lives. But Julian is back in business now: running around in the yard, and creating glorious mess in the house. The first place he went to when we got back from the hospital was the play area. He missed his toys and books. :)

It's now two weeks since then, and the follow-up check-up on Julian was very good: his blood was back to normal, except for the anemia, which was treatable. Hopefully it stays that way.

Julian has bounced back — and kuya Gab, too.