The good, the bad... the ?????

"I have good news and I have bad news.. which do you want first?"

Ugh.. don't you hate that question? How do you pick? You know right off the bat that something is going to make you happy and something is going to make you sad/mad.. it's such a tough decision. Some people like the bad first, so that when they hear the good.. it's better than good! Some people like the excitement first, because they can't wait for the good news and want to hear positive first and leave the bad for last...

anyway.. today was a good day and a bad day... but for 2 very different reasons.. so I'm going to pick for you.. I'm going to give you the good first but you can scroll down to the bad news first if you just have to know!!!!

The good news is:
our appointment today was wonderful! We had asked if we could get out early so that we could get to school in time to get the kids (it was an early dismissal day). They said they would try their best.. and that they did! The first 2 hours were spent getting lab work done and listening to an 'education' class on kidney donation. Because we have already been through this with Christ Hospital, almost all of it was review. A few new questions arose and we learned a few new things so it wasn't a total waste! After we finished with the educational portion, they took us back to an exam room. We met our new nurse coordinator and answered a million routine questions. She left and brought in the surgeon!!!!!!!! It was so exciting to finally meet one of the surgeons.. I really felt like this was major progress! He spoke with us and did an exam on Neil.. he said while his kidneys are large at this time, they are not large enough to need to be removed before or after transplant!!!! :) He said that could change and other things could come up that would mean they need to be removed but as of now, they are good to stay in, he has room for a new kidney and he's ready for surgery!

*Side note* While we were meeting with the surgeon, our donor called me and left me a message saying she can't get the results of her glucose test till Monday because the nurse that needs to read the test is out sick. I just happened to mention this to our new nurse case manager and she said she would go over and see if she can read them.. and possibly sign off on them so that the donor can make her appointment with OSU.. We're getting so close to her being a match.. keep praying it all works out!

After the surgeon left, the social worker paid us a visit.. again this was all stuff we already knew so she skipped almost all of it and just got to the nitty-gritty... i.e. Medicare... UGH.. not fun stuff but if we have to do it, we have to do it. After she was done, the nurse coordinator came back and and we finished up and I think we were out the door around noon! We were so excited to be done that we decided to go to lunch! While at lunch, I sent a text message to my coworker at school to let her know we would be picking up the boys and not the other person we designated yesterday! We texted back and forth and all was well.

The bad news is:

While Neil and I were enjoying our nice lunch, my phone rang and it was my coworker.. telling me that the recess duty teacher checked in on child #1 and he was sitting on the carpet (it was indoor recess) and looked totally out of it. She said he felt hot and wanted to know what to do because she knew I was at the appointment and couldn't leave to get him. I informed her that we finished early and were having lunch but we would finish up and get there ASAP!

So.. we finish lunch and get to school to get the boys.. at this point, we're signing them all out because it's only an hour till dismissal anyway. Child #1's temperature at school was 101. The school nurse just happened to be there so I chatted with her about him and the whole H1N1 scare etc.. I decide that I probably won't call the Dr but just take him home and load him up with Ibuprofen and put him to bed. However.. when we got home, I checked his temp and it was now 103!!!!! So I called the Dr office. They are obviously inundated with sick calls because they put me through to a nurse to be screened first. I told her his symptoms and she said if it's the flu, there's nothing they can do and she doubts it's strep throat because he has a cough... but that it's up to me if I want to bring him in. I tell her he looks miserable and that I would feel better if he was seen. So she said they had a 615p appt avail! I was really surprised because they normally close at 430p and never take patients that late. She said the waiting room is full and they have to see their patients.

We made it to the doctor and went back into the room.. they took his temp with the head scan thermometer and say they need to get him some Ibuprofen fast.. they didn't even tell me his temp but I could still see it on the display... it was... (hold on to your seat)... 106.4

Whhhhhhh-------what????? Are you kidding me?? I looked at the Dr and almost fainted.. I thought kids died at temps that high! And here my kid has one THAT high! After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I felt really guilty for making him go to school today and wanted to cry! The Dr assured me that she didn't think it was accurate and that kids have high temps like that and it's ok... she said he looked and acted sick but didn't act or look like he was THAT bad.. she left to go get a popsicle and to get the flu test and I started in on the child... "When's your birthday", "What day is it?", "Where do you live?", "What's our phone number?", "How old are you?"... he answered every question correctly and asked me, "Why are you asking me this?".... I told him I just needed to know that he was OK...

The Dr comes back.. and makes his day with a Popsicle... but not before she can stick the flu swab up his nose and practically into his brain.. he complained it hurt.. it hurt me to watch her do it to him! She promptly came back to tell us he tested positive for Influenza-A and that they are considering that to be H1N1 since seasonal flu starts later. She said there is nothing they can do other than pump him full of fluids at home and administer Ibuprofen every 6 hours. She told me what to look for and call if I see any of it and also that he should be fever free by Sunday. She said to watch out for the fever going completely away for 24-hours and then coming back!

So we left and I took him home to get into bed... I went to the store and stocked up on all kinds of drinks and Popsicles for him! I had told the Dr about Neil and she advised I get on the phone with the nephrologist office and find out if they want to start treatment for Neil. On the way to the store, I called the answering service and told them what was going on and to have the Dr on call get in touch with me. He called me when I was in the store and I explained to him what just went down with the child and he said he honestly didn't know what they were going to do because it hasn't happened to anyone else before. He finally said that if Neil has any symptoms of flu, to get to his family Dr immediately for a flu test and go from there.

I've checked on the child twice since being home.. his fever has dropped to normal... which seems extreme to me.. so it either really wasn't that high or Ibuprofen is golden! At the 6-hour mark, I checked again and it was still 98... so i gave him another drink to sip on and more Ibuprofen in case it decides to come back in the next couple of hours.. while I'm sleeping! Tucked him back in bed and told him to holler if he needed anything.... poor thing.. he felt hot to me so I think the fever was going to come back.....but I hope the dose of Ibuprofen zaps it away!!!!!!

so yea, there it is.. extremely good news today...... and extremely shocking, bad news today. I really feel like 'it never ends'... or 'it's always something'... I try to have faith that it will all work out in the end but with days like today, it's tough to get over the hump of chaos!