Breathe Baby, Breathe

It seems like I've said that a lot over the past week.  As we prepare to head into another weekend, I am praying that this one will be much more calm and uneventful than the last.  Annalise began running a fever last Thursday, she is finally getting over that and the cough/cold that has accompanied it.  Thursday night, John came home with what we thought was the stomach flu.  He was sick throughout the night, but was feeling a bit better Friday morning other than some pain in his stomach, so he kept the appointment and went to sign the papers to refinance our home.  As he was driving back from there, he began feeling very ill again.  He went into work, since that was close, and called me saying that he was going to have a co-worker take him to the hospital.  When he got to the hospital they found that he was dehydrated.  They then decided to do a CT scan just to make sure there was nothing else.  They found a bowel blockage and admitted him to the hospital.  I wasn't happy about him being so sick, but I was thrilled that it wasn't the stomach flu that would be running though the family!  He ended up being in the hospital until Monday.  Luckily he did not have to have surgery!

So John was admitted to the hospital Friday night and about midnight Bryce's breathing seemed really strange to me, but not terribly alarming.  About 5am, he woke again with this weird sounding breathing and then began with croup.  I did all the usual things to get the croup under control (in the mean time, all the boys had heard him struggling and woken up).  As we were outside and his breathing was a little less labored, I told him that it was Daddy's turn to be in the hospital and that he couldn't join him!  :)  Luckily he listened, and soon was breathing a bit better.  We spent the weekend and the last couple of days doing breathing treatments and major suctioning, trying to keep his breathing stable and his lungs clear.  He has given me a few scares, but now seems to be on the mend.  We did end up at the doctor's office yesterday because he began running a fever and seemed very uncomfortable.  Ends up he has an ear infection.  Luckily his lungs sound clear, so hopefully we can get rid of the ear infection and he will be back to the happy, healthy Bryce we all know and love!  He is really looking forward to going back to school.  He gets bored with just mom and Annalise all day!

Another weird thing that Bryce has been going through is this weird rash.  It is totally unrelated (I think) to the croup.  It began just over 3 weeks ago.  Here is a picture of the first spot. 

Looks like ring worm doesn't it?  

Then this one showed up on his belly.  

Bryce had a GI appointment the day the second one showed up and the GI also thought that it looked like ring worm and told us to just use the over the counter anti-fungal cream which we continued doing for another week and a half.  In the meantime, this rash began to spread all over his body,

so I decided to take him to the pediatrician since I didn't think ring worm spread like that.  She looked at it and first thought ring worm, but when I showed her the whole rash, she confirmed that ring worm does not spread like that.  She then looked for a while, put her hands up and said, "I really don't know what that is, you need to take him to a dermatologist."  So I made an appointment, but they can't see him until next week.

So, we weren't really sure what was going on, but when my Mom was talking to my younger sister, Kim said that it sounded just like what she had a couple of years ago.  I sent these pictures to Kim and talked with her a bit and she said hers looked just like that.  She couldn't remember what it was called, so she called her dermatologist and asked her.  PITYRIASIS ROSEA!  I looked it up on the internet and sure enough that is exactly what it is!  Thanks Dr. Kim!  When I took Bryce in for his ears, the doctor we saw that day confirmed it.  Luckily it is not contagious.  It usually affects people from the ages of 10-35, so he has it a little young.  The rash usually lasts 6-8 weeks, but can last for months.  He doesn't seem bothered by it, so I guess we'll just wait for it to disappear.  Weird!

They keep me on my toes, but aren't they just adorable?  Keepers for sure!