The Road Ahead

One day... life is fine. Then things can so easily start to crumble.

When Zach was a baby... around 8 months... he had several incidents of small amounts of blood passing through his urine. We went the doctor. He sent us to a urologist. They took a urine sample but it wasn't a good sample for testing. They did testing that involved the hospital and a catheter and so on.

And everything seemed to be fine. I thought it was related to Tylenol since it happened after he'd have doses of it repeatedly. It can be hard on kidneys, etc. So we stopped giving him Tylenol and stuck with Motrin or Ibuprofin only. And it went away.

Fast forward to now.

Dec 10, we went to the doctor for help fighting a rash that had developed a couple of weeks previous and that we had tried everything to treat- desitin, boudreaux's, triple paste, lotrimin, nystatin, neosporin. Nothing helped. The doctor gave us a scrip for a cream. Tried it- and it didn't get better, got worse and his urine began to smell funny. Called the doc within a couple of days of seeing him and told him of the developments. He put Zach on an antibiotic and a new cream. And the rash got better and was almost completely gone by New Year's Eve. Then, Monday, it came back.

It's a strange rash. It's on his pelvis and genitals. Last time, it stayed there. This time, it stayed there but then started spreading to his inner upper thighs and buttocks.

As you know, he had a puking thing Weds night. Started at 6:30 and his last bit was just after midnight. He then went on and kept fluids down, ate a few solids, slept and rested all day, ended the day with some chocolate milk and was back to normal after that.

We went to the doctor Thursday afternoon for the rash and got a second scrip for the same cream and a scrip for a new antibiotic.

Back to day care today.

Have I ever told you how much I love our daycare provider? When we first started looking for a daycare provider, we knew we wanted someone who did daycare in their home so that our kids would have a home environment. We wanted stability, routine. And we wanted our provider to be a family member to our kids- not just a babysitter. Lisa is all that and more.

Lisa called me at work Friday afternoon.

Blood in Zach's urine. Once in his diaper, once in the potty... and concerned she might have seen blood in his stool (also in the potty).

I got off the phone- a mess. I called Jeff and cried. I called Christy- I was a mess.

I got calmed down, I got our doctor's office on the phone. Talked to a nurse and gave her as much information as I could. Waited for a call back... the doctor wants us to go back to the urologist. He's fairly certain this is beyond a dermatology issue and that the rash is a symptom of what's going on inside.

Here's the miracle... our urologist's triage nurse is one of the moms at Lisa's.

I left her a voicemail at the urologist's office. Jeff and Lisa talked to her at pick up time...

We are going to find a way to get a urine sample from Zach on Sunday. We then call that mom and she has offered to come to our house and pick it up and take it to work Monday morning.

So we have a short term plan to get things started. And next week, I imagine we will have a couple of doctor visits, maybe some testing. And plenty of worry and an unhappy boy who won't like being poked and prodded and looked at.

And a very worried and stressed Mommy and Daddy. And a big sister who doesn't understand it all.

At this point... I ask only for prayers, please. Prayers for comfort, strength, answers, action...

Meanwhile, we plan to enjoy our weekend as best we can!