Medical Mayhem

No emergencies, thankfully, but I figured I'd tell everyone our latest, which includes lots of doctor visits.

Way back when we were still in Washington, I noticed a dry patch of skin on my leg. I've had a few little bits of eczema before so I just rubbed Aveeno on it occasionally and gave it little thought. As we were driving back East, I noticed in the shower one morning a trail of small red spots on my chest and belly. They were itchy, and Marianne thought they were bug bites. Our hotel in Nebraska was kinda icky, so we figured something must have chewed on me there. Again, I gave it little thought and carried on with life. Over the next couple of weeks the spots grew bigger, more spots appeared, itching continued. The spot on my leg developed a red ring, and then the belly spots got rings--my first indication that the two were related. I put Aveeno on everything in case it was eczema and Gold Bond on everything in case it was bug bites. I started to think it looked like ringworm, but really had no idea what was the deal. All I knew was I'd had the belly spots at least three weeks and they were still getting bigger and spreading. It looked like I had the plague.

Meanwhile I asked around at church for recommendations for a good OB and then scheduled care at a recommended group's office. I had two appointments scheduled: the first what they call an OB History, where I don't see a doctor, but a nurse tells me what to expect in pregancy, office policies, etc. That was May 4. I had a New OB appointment scheduled for May 14 to do all those lovely preliminaries with a doctor, plus my glocose test and RhoGam shot (b/c I'm type-negative blood so my body doesn' reject a type-positive baby). So, at my OB History I showed the nurse my spots, and she thought it was a rash common to pregnancy, but decided to ask a doctor to be sure. She forgot to ask while I was there, but called later and said the doctor thought it sounded fungal. I was instructed to start applying OTC anti-fungal cream and they wanted to see me the following Tuesday (May 8?). Nice--three doctor visits in two weeks.

Friday, May 4: I decided last-minute to go to Aiken for Dad's birthday. David and I left shortly after my doctor's appointment. As we were descending the stairs from our apartment to the parking lot, David took a tumble and somersaulted down a couple of (cement) stairs. He seemed ok, but had a bruise and some scratches around one eye. His eyes watered a lot and I was a little concerned that his eye itself may have gotten scratched. Someone suggested I watch for discharge.

We had a fun time in Aiken, albeit a bit trying. David was obviously out of his element, not sleeping well (or at all some afternoons) and therefore was difficult to handle. It was great to see Mom and Dad and the Brenden clan, though. I also got to see old friends that I didn't expect to run into. We came home on Monday.

Tuesday May 8: Dr. B looks at my trunk and agrees it's probably fungal, but does a blood test just in case it's Lyme disease. Fortunately, it is not. Over the next week I continue to apply the Lamisil twice daily. David starts to show signs of a cold.

Thursday, May 10: In the late afternoon/early evening I noticed that David's eyes were goopy. I cleaned them out only to discover a few minutes later that they were full of yellow crud again. This continued through the evening. As I was getting him ready for bed I noticed that his eyes were now cloudy and the area around them was red and puffy. He rubbed them often and cried when he touched them. Nathan and I decided I should take him to a doctor the next day to check for an eye infection.

Friday, May 11: I read in my home health-care manual that if the eye discharge continues for more than 24 hours to consult a doctor. David's eyes were still red and puffy and he still rubbed them a lot, but the discharge did not continue. I called Mom to see what she thought. She advised me to take him in anyway so we weren't having problems all weekend. We went to the pediatrician that afternoon. By this time his eyes had cleared up considerably--there were only traces of red and puffy, and still no discharge. The doctor looked at his eyes, then checked his ears and found an ear infection of all things! He said the same bug was probably causing both eye and ear problems. Since the eyes were clearing up he wasn't concerned about pinkeye, but prescribed an antibiotic for the ears.

Saturday, May 12: Nathan and I viewed three homes with our Realtor. We really like one of them and are considering placing an offer. We're viewing another tonight (Monday 14th). We'll keep you posted on that. David is looking and acting much better. I don't notice any improvement in my fungus; in fact, it spread to my back and shoulder.

Monday, May 14: This was my originally scheduled New OB appointment/glucose test. I didn't ask anyone to watch David because of his infection, so he came along. I as I was unloading him out of the van, his right hand got shut in the automatic sliding door while he was "helping" it close. Now we know--the doors have sensors in the front to prevent smushed appendages, but not in the back. It closed over his palm from his index knuckle to his wrist, with his entire thumb inside. I had locked the car before shutting the door so I couldn't open it immediately. I had to fumble with my keys to unlock it and then slide the door back. Oh how he howled! He had a pretty deep dent in the top of his hand and the skin was slighly broken inside his palm. I hurried into the doctor's office and asked the receptionist for some ice, showing her David's hand. She ran to the back and apparently had the entire nursing staff scrambling. The "head nurse" came out with the ice for David and looked at his hand for me. He was moving his fingers, so she didn't think anything was broken, just badly bruised. He was more interested in sucking the ice than having it on his hand. Soon he wanted to go play and carried on quite happily. Although he was moving fingers, I noticed that he was having a little trouble with his pincer grasp on his right hand, and he held his thumb at a funny angle. He did use it to apply pressure to a lamp switch without complaint, but he had to use his other thumb to actually turn the lamp on. I'm wondering how much is just tenderness from bruising and how much is cause for concern. As the afternoon has progressed he seems to be okay with everything. Just now I bent and wiggled his thumb without any fuss or flinch (thank my lucky stars!).

The actual doctor's appointment was okay, but rather long. When it was all said and done, I had been there for two and a half hours and chased David down about every hallway they had. This doctor said since my fungus has spread even with a week of treatment, I should see a dermatologist, and soon. He also said with my history or David being an early baby, I really shouldn't go to the family reunion in Aiken at that stage of pregnancy. It wasn't a firm "absolutely not," but he wasn't encouraging by any means. As a rule their office doesn't want patients to travel farther than 2 hours from Raleigh after 34 weeks. I will hit 34 weeks during the reunion. I'm going to double check at a later visit and see if I can at least do the weekend for the family picture (if that's still on) since technically I won't be 34 weeks yet, but the Charleston portion is out for me--that part I'm sure is doctor's orders.

I had a little trouble with my glucose test. When I first arrived (after taking care of David's hand) they gave me the glucola and a timer. They said when the timer goes off in an hour, go to the lab and get your blood drawn. I visited with the doc, scheduled my next appointment, and discussed insurance coverage in billing. I finished talking to the billing department with 5 minutes to go, so she walked me to the lab waiting area. I was left with the impression that the lab tech would call me when she was ready for me. My timer beeped and I waited...and waited....and waited. Three other women came and went from the lab while I sat there. Eventually a nurse asked me how much longer I had on my timer. I told her that it rang half an hour ago and I was waiting for the lab tech. Oops, I was supposed to tell her when my timer rang. They weren't sure if it was too late for an accurate test, but the doc said to draw the blood anyway and if it came back abnormal they'd do it again at my next visit. Lovely. I felt so stupid!

So, as if we hadn't seen doctors enough in the past two weeks, in the next two weeks we're looking at another OB visit, a dermatologist appointment, maybe a pediatrician for a smashed hand, plus since my WA tags expire at the end of the month, I have to get my NC driver's license so I can apply for NC plates. We're also planning to head up to Sean and Jenny's for Memorial Day weekend. I'm just glad that I'm not trying to dance around a work schedule, as well. Never a dull moment in the Nash household!

Well, I do believe that brings us up to speed. We love all y'all!

Natalie & boys