23) All Hallows' Eve

2017 was the first time in years that I did not carve a pumpkin for Halloween.

The month of October has been quite trying for our household. Our older son, J seemed to bring home from daycare every sickness and virus known to humankind. What J brings home, E will catch. Unfortunate how the older brother is so generous to share his germs, but not his toys. We've had at least 3 colds run through the house, as well as a bout of croup, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease. In the last 6 days, we've had to make 5 visits to the hospital. In my last post, we had returned from the hospital after E's chemo treatment.

E looking out the window of the 7th floor POGO lounge while waiting for his chemo treatment. Orange (for leukemia awareness) cape lovingly made by his godmother.

Not long after returning home, we had to turn around and head back because he had developed croup and needed to be checked out. A mask of atomized epinephrine, an oral dose of dexamethazone, and 6 hours later, we were finally discharged around 12:30 AM. The next morning was a follow-up visit to the hospital to check on his croup.

Poor E was plagued by vile diarrhea over the weekend, and Monday was another trip in to the hospital for a check-up because it had been going on for 3 days. Bloodwork was done, and a stool sample taken to culture. The blood came back fine, and the stool would probably be a 3 day wait for results.

Monday night, around 11:30 PM, E woke up, and he was feeling warm. An armpit reading taken by thermometer confirmed a fever, and we contacted SickKids to get an oncologist to call us. We stripped E down to just his diaper and brought him into our bed. By the time the oncologist contacted us, E's temperature had dropped a bit, and he was no longer registering a fever. It was determined that the best course of action would be to spend the rest of the night at home, with a trip to the hospital on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday at the hospital, more bloodwork was done, and a urine sample was taken. Surprisingly, the blood once again came back fine. The urine culture results would not be ready for a couple of days. After the hospital visit, we made a dash to my in-laws' house for Halloween. E was dressed up as a pumpkin, but we didn't take him out of the house. J was a vampire, and had a great time trick-or-treating with his cousins. That's what I like to see. This horrible disease is taking its toll on our family, but I still want J to do and experience regular kid things even though his brother is sick.

The POGO lounge door, decorated for Halloween

It's now Wednesday night, and there's been no hospital trips today. It's a suspected viral or bacterial infection, but likely more viral since E's nose is now running, he has a cough, and the diarrhea is starting to get under control.

October was a difficult month. Especially the last week. We couldn't even manage to carve a pumpkin due to the sicknesses and running around due to sicknesses. J was so excited for Halloween this year, and I'm glad that he was able to enjoy it, and I hope that he found it extra special because he was with family.

I can probably also speak for my wife when I say that the challenges of the previous month were enormous. We're anxious, we're frazzled, we're exhausted, and we're drained. But we made it through. Barely. Now it's a new month, and the calendar is flipped to a new page.

November, please take it easy on us.