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POSITIVE.... for STREP

Ethan woke up on Friday morning with temperature of 102, but I was able to get it down and keep it down throughout the day with Tylenol and ibuprofen. Later during the day I found out that one of his little friends from STEPS was sick -- throwing up A LOT --- and I got worried, thinking that it would just be a matter of time before the puking started at our house. However, it never came.

Yesterday morning Ethan woke up again with a temperature (101.8) and once again we treated it throughout the day with Tylenol and ibuprofen. He was a bit more quiet than usual and wouldn't drink or eat great (but that isn't very unusual for our little man) and he still has his cough and all the boogies (possibly from aspirating small amounts of fluid into his lungs -- which is why he is going to be getting a feeding tube) but since he didn't seem to be getting worse and we were able to manage the temp we thought it was going to be okay. Ethan is also working on two teeth --- both molars. He only has 6 teeth in and these new ones are coming in out of order!

This morning when Ethan woke up with a temp of 102.4 after sleeping over 12 hours, we knew it was time to call the doctor. After a dose of Tylenol, a cool shower, a bit of formula, an hour later it had gone down to 101.4 and we gave him some ibuprofen and called the doctor. We love our local doctor and all of his staff. We spoke with the doctor on call and she agreed to meet with us this afternoon at the office (this wasn't our first Sunday office visit :))! She saw us and took a good look at the little guy and he had spots at the back of his throat, so she tested for strep. It was positive! Yuck to strep, but we were glad to learn that it is something we can treat!

Ethan now has a dose of antibiotics in him and we are hoping that within 24 to 48 hours he'll have this strep kicked. We are doing our best to push fluids, although it is rather difficult. He's getting lots of applesauce and tiny pieces of mandarin oranges. Although I am still very nervous about Ethan having the surgery and feeding tube in the near future (we still don't have a surgery date) it becomes very clear in situations like this that we need a way to supplement Ethan's fluids.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. It has been a tough end of the week. Another little one with PBD-ZSD is now with Jesus, leaving her family's arms empty. I hate this stupid disease. So many kids are fighting so hard and many have been called home already this year, it just sucks. Being a Christian, and understanding that God is always good, even when things seem so bleak is sometimes tough and I don't pretend not to be upset and/or still cry out "why" from time to time, when it just seems like it is just "one more thing" but I will NOT let this disease steal my faith. I know that God is LOVE and that although I don't deserve it and that I fall short every single day in so many ways that God loves me, he loves Jeff, and he loves Ethan even more than we do. He has a plan for us. He is working in the midst of all this and I do believe that in the end God will be glorified and that lives will be changed for the better because of our little boy. I hope that you will join us in prayer for miracles, for treatments and a cure to be developed, for the world to be changed for the better, and ultimately for people to come to know the Lord. It is times like this that I must remind myself to shift my focus from "why?" to "How will I glorify?"

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Here we go again!

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