Caption: the ENT Dr. Looking into Josh’s nostrils
Josh was admitted back into the hospital last night for a persistent fever. It started as a low-grade fever on Thursday night and continued to progress. It has been hard to try to determine the cause since he not only has had fevers and chills but also cold-like symptoms, a small amount of GVHD, plus his limp nodes on his throat are swollen We spent most of yesterday at the clinic, and the night before that we had spent half the night in the ER. At the ER, they gave Josh antibiotics and send him home. At the clinic, they tried to come up with an out-patient plan to address Josh’s symptoms so he wouldn’t need to go to the hospital. Josh’s nurse instructed him to call if his fever exceeded 101, so Josh asked if she could take his temperature right then at the clinic. His temperature was 101.5 so she gave him Tylenol and started him on antibiotics, but still sent him home. About two hours after being at home, Josh’s fever came back up to over 101 despite the fever-reducer. After talking to our nurse and going back and forth we decided to have him admitted to play it safe.
Today Josh had a CT Scan on his throat and they found some clues to the kind of infection Josh may have… They found liquid and signs of a bacterial infection in his throat. They are hoping that the antibiotics will stop the infection early enough that they would not need to cut him open and drain it through surgery. Apparently, right now would be too early to drain the fluid through surgery anyways even if they want to. They were surprised that Josh came back with signs of a throat infection since Josh had not complained much of any symptoms other than the swollen limp nodes which they thought were related to his cold. I think Josh has really been doing a great job trying to tuff it out. He mentioned sometime last weak that he had a sore throat but it wasn’t bad enough for me to call on it. Today, they took a sample into the lab to test it for Strep Throat. We are thankful to have some clues, but are waiting and praying for more answers. We pray that Josh will be able to fight whatever this is, with the aide of the antibiotics, and more importantly–the Lord’s help! Our nurse today said she was confident that given his blood counts, he will be able to fight this off. We trust in God’s sovereignty and purpose in all of this, yet the process is scary at the same time. Please pray for Josh to get some much-needed rest and comfort in the Lord during this trial-some time; and for wisdom for the doctors and medical team involved.
At home, the boys are both all healed from their colds and flues. We are thankful that Katelynn and I did not end up getting sick too. Noah had fun going on a hike with the men from Clackamas Bible Church here. Thank you, Pastor Ken, for taking him. He also got to go to a birthday party of a neighbor and have fun with other kids. We want the boys to have fun and get out, yet we have to be careful and pray that they don’t bring home any germs. We appreciate your prayers so very much!
This Thorny Rose 