ShamWoW!
That is what I got for Christmas. :-P That and Wii Speak. Okay the first one was a joke. My wife and I really don't do Christmas gifts instead focus more on the children's gifts.
My real gifts came earlier in the morning. I was the first up at 6:38 AM and I walked into my youngest child's room not really knowing if I would find her alive or paralyzed. She was warm and breathing. *Release held breath!* (Big present #1!) I cuddled with her until she stirred and asked her if she was going to get up and check her presents. She asked, "Is it Christmas already?" LOL! When I reassured her that it was she perked up and said, "Yes!" She sat up and I checked her legs and she could feel them. She was able to put weight on them and walk assisted by me into the family room. (Big present # 2!)
I guess I should explain. On Saturday she came down with a 103 to 104 fever, sore throat and cold/flu symptoms. One of her playmates had Strep Throat last week. We thought she might have that but her throat didn't look like it. Her fever was down to 100ish on Sunday and Monday so we didn't take her to the doctor. On Tuesday the fever was 100 to 99 but she started complaining that her calves were achy. We dismissed it as aches due to the flu. Wednesday at around 6:30 AM we were awoken to her lying on the floor in front of the restroom crying. Her legs hurt so bad that she couldn't walk. She had crawled to where she was but couldn't figure out how she would get on the toilet. *Insert freaking parents here*
We decided to wait until her pediatrician’s office opened at 8:30 and save the ER cost and wait. We got an appointment and were seen by one of the two doctors doing emergency Christmas eve duties. He gave her a Strep, Flu, blood and urine tests. All came back negative. The Flu test might not be accurate because she came down with it so many days ago. The doctor kept asking if she had been jumping around a really lot. (She had been on the couch/bed since Friday evening.) She had been bitten by a tick over Thanksgiving and we found it 3 days later. The symptoms looked a little like Lyme Disease but there was no rash at the bite site. He was at a loss and said frankly he was not sure what it was. His best guess is that there was an electrolyte imbalance and it was causing cramping. It was strange that it was only in the calves. He said a worse case possibility was that it could be a disease called Guillain-Barré Syndrome. It starts out with pain to the lower extremities and progresses to paralysis and can spread to the organs and then threaten life.
He sent us home with a prescription to Amoxicillin in the unlikely event it was Lyme Disease and instructions to keep a close eye on her reflexes in her feet and legs in the event that it was Guillain-Barré Syndrome. She was fine last night and went to bed being able to put a little weight on them but we could tell she was in pain.
Today she is able to walk by herself but has to tip-toe everywhere she goes. If she levels her foot out her calf gets really tight. They are loosening up ever so slowly.
My real gifts came earlier in the morning. I was the first up at 6:38 AM and I walked into my youngest child's room not really knowing if I would find her alive or paralyzed. She was warm and breathing. *Release held breath!* (Big present #1!) I cuddled with her until she stirred and asked her if she was going to get up and check her presents. She asked, "Is it Christmas already?" LOL! When I reassured her that it was she perked up and said, "Yes!" She sat up and I checked her legs and she could feel them. She was able to put weight on them and walk assisted by me into the family room. (Big present # 2!)
I guess I should explain. On Saturday she came down with a 103 to 104 fever, sore throat and cold/flu symptoms. One of her playmates had Strep Throat last week. We thought she might have that but her throat didn't look like it. Her fever was down to 100ish on Sunday and Monday so we didn't take her to the doctor. On Tuesday the fever was 100 to 99 but she started complaining that her calves were achy. We dismissed it as aches due to the flu. Wednesday at around 6:30 AM we were awoken to her lying on the floor in front of the restroom crying. Her legs hurt so bad that she couldn't walk. She had crawled to where she was but couldn't figure out how she would get on the toilet. *Insert freaking parents here*
We decided to wait until her pediatrician’s office opened at 8:30 and save the ER cost and wait. We got an appointment and were seen by one of the two doctors doing emergency Christmas eve duties. He gave her a Strep, Flu, blood and urine tests. All came back negative. The Flu test might not be accurate because she came down with it so many days ago. The doctor kept asking if she had been jumping around a really lot. (She had been on the couch/bed since Friday evening.) She had been bitten by a tick over Thanksgiving and we found it 3 days later. The symptoms looked a little like Lyme Disease but there was no rash at the bite site. He was at a loss and said frankly he was not sure what it was. His best guess is that there was an electrolyte imbalance and it was causing cramping. It was strange that it was only in the calves. He said a worse case possibility was that it could be a disease called Guillain-Barré Syndrome. It starts out with pain to the lower extremities and progresses to paralysis and can spread to the organs and then threaten life.
He sent us home with a prescription to Amoxicillin in the unlikely event it was Lyme Disease and instructions to keep a close eye on her reflexes in her feet and legs in the event that it was Guillain-Barré Syndrome. She was fine last night and went to bed being able to put a little weight on them but we could tell she was in pain.
Today she is able to walk by herself but has to tip-toe everywhere she goes. If she levels her foot out her calf gets really tight. They are loosening up ever so slowly.