Blood tests, HFM, and lead
Miss P is having a rough time of it right now. She was sent home from Baby School Monday with a fever, and she spent the day with Lee, feeling crappy and not wanting to do much. I stayed home with her Tuesday, and the fever kept sticking and got up to 102.5. I decided to take her to the pediatrician, because the week before, another child was out of Baby School for a whole week, and we were all alerted that he had Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. I didn't see any spots on Penelope's hands or feet, but I couldn't see in her mouth, and the fever wouldn't go away.
Sure enough. The doctor pried open P's mouth with a tongue depressor, shined a light inside, took one look, and said, "Oh, yeah, she's got it." Apparently, though I had not heard about this sickness until recently, it is very common, but because it is a virus, you can't do anything but wait it out. And the Baby School requires that you wait it out at home for at least a week, whether symptoms are gone or not.
So Lee stayed home Wednesday, and I'm here today. Lee should be able to stay tomorrow; I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The doc also said she may not have gotten it from the kid at Baby School. Maybe another kid had it, or maybe she got it somewhere in the community. I asked if I should alert the parents of the kids who were at Penelope's birthday party Saturday. The doctor said sure, but also said it's possible P got it from one of them.
Oy. Childhood illness.
She still has a fever today, though it's down to about 100.5 the last time I took her temp.
But then today we had some more excitement! The pediatrician's office called to follow up from Penelope's one-year checkup, which we went to on July 12. One of the tortures they inflicted on my baby at that appointment was to prick her toe and squeeze out a bunch of blood for some tests, and one of the tests came back showing elevated levels of lead.
THAT'S a downer. P's level was 23, and anything over 10 is a cause for concern. However, the nurse said that the toe-prick test can commonly be in error, and so they require a re-test, this time with blood drawn the usual way, from the arm in a lab.
So after lunch, I took Penelope to the lab, where I had to restrain her in my arms while they jabbed her and took two tubes of blood. She actually did really well with it, and seemed to be crying mostly from the weirdness of the situation, the discomfort of the tourniquet, and the displeasure and being restrained. As soon as I loosened my grip, she stopped crying.
Here she is with her bandage:
We'll find out probably Monday if the lead levels are, indeed, elevated, and the nurse will then tell us everything we need to know and send us all kinds of literature so we can try to figure out where the lead is coming from.
When we listed the house, we signed a form acknowledging that as far as we knew, there was no lead in the house. That seemed kind of a funny statement; this house is 120 years old, so it seems likely there is lead somewhere. However, when we bought the house, we were shown a copy of the same agreement as signed by the previous owner, which meant that they were saying nobody had told them the house had lead, and nobody has told US the house has lead.
If, as a result of P's blood levels, we discover the house has lead, I will feel all the more motivated to get out of here. However, knowing that the house has lead may impede our ability to sell it, or even to rent it. A catch-22 indeed.
I may be getting ahead of myself, here. Truly, I am trying not to worry much for right now. It may be there is nothing to worry about. Monday, I should know more, and maybe then I can start worrying. We shall see.
Sure enough. The doctor pried open P's mouth with a tongue depressor, shined a light inside, took one look, and said, "Oh, yeah, she's got it." Apparently, though I had not heard about this sickness until recently, it is very common, but because it is a virus, you can't do anything but wait it out. And the Baby School requires that you wait it out at home for at least a week, whether symptoms are gone or not.
So Lee stayed home Wednesday, and I'm here today. Lee should be able to stay tomorrow; I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The doc also said she may not have gotten it from the kid at Baby School. Maybe another kid had it, or maybe she got it somewhere in the community. I asked if I should alert the parents of the kids who were at Penelope's birthday party Saturday. The doctor said sure, but also said it's possible P got it from one of them.
Oy. Childhood illness.
She still has a fever today, though it's down to about 100.5 the last time I took her temp.
But then today we had some more excitement! The pediatrician's office called to follow up from Penelope's one-year checkup, which we went to on July 12. One of the tortures they inflicted on my baby at that appointment was to prick her toe and squeeze out a bunch of blood for some tests, and one of the tests came back showing elevated levels of lead.
THAT'S a downer. P's level was 23, and anything over 10 is a cause for concern. However, the nurse said that the toe-prick test can commonly be in error, and so they require a re-test, this time with blood drawn the usual way, from the arm in a lab.
So after lunch, I took Penelope to the lab, where I had to restrain her in my arms while they jabbed her and took two tubes of blood. She actually did really well with it, and seemed to be crying mostly from the weirdness of the situation, the discomfort of the tourniquet, and the displeasure and being restrained. As soon as I loosened my grip, she stopped crying.
Here she is with her bandage:
We'll find out probably Monday if the lead levels are, indeed, elevated, and the nurse will then tell us everything we need to know and send us all kinds of literature so we can try to figure out where the lead is coming from.
When we listed the house, we signed a form acknowledging that as far as we knew, there was no lead in the house. That seemed kind of a funny statement; this house is 120 years old, so it seems likely there is lead somewhere. However, when we bought the house, we were shown a copy of the same agreement as signed by the previous owner, which meant that they were saying nobody had told them the house had lead, and nobody has told US the house has lead.
If, as a result of P's blood levels, we discover the house has lead, I will feel all the more motivated to get out of here. However, knowing that the house has lead may impede our ability to sell it, or even to rent it. A catch-22 indeed.
I may be getting ahead of myself, here. Truly, I am trying not to worry much for right now. It may be there is nothing to worry about. Monday, I should know more, and maybe then I can start worrying. We shall see.