Is it nap time yet?

So the good news is that we survived a really tough weekend and are on the road to healing and happiness. That in itself is a full post. But instead I'll just do an update...

Garrett is doing much better after his visit to the ER on Saturday after falling off the parallel bars. He ended up with whiplash and some rib contusions, but no broken bones luckily! He is taking it easy and feeling better every day ~ in a week or so I am sure he will be up and at his usual antics once again.Emmy's fevers have been gone for almost a week and he should be fever free for another two weeks, and back to his usual antics. One of his favorite games is to go to the flash light bin and turn them all on...lovely game it is.We did take him to an Infectious Disease Specialist this week and got a (somewhat) diagnosis. The doctor ruled out cancer (even though I didn't think that was a possibility!), lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and a bunch of other yucky things. He narrowed it down to a list of 7 periodic fever disorders with one favorite - PFAPA (also called Marshall's Syndrome). You can't test for it, but you can do diagnostic testing, which is what he wants to do. But he also wants to rule out the other 6, so we had to do some blood work on Emmy - which is always terribly hard to do. His veins are so little, and his arms are so chubby that it makes for a very hard time getting enough blood.The poor guy gets poked over and over and the needles get wiggled and twisted and turned...it is no fun for anyone participating - phlebotomist, parent, or patient! To rule out PFAPA, we were given a steroid Rx for Emmy to take at the beginning of his next fever cycle. If it halts the fever, then it probably is PFAPA, if the fever continues to climb, then it probably isn't. I don't like the idea of giving my baby steroids every 3-4 weeks, but if we get a true diagnosis of PFAPA, then there is another way to treat it which has the same success rate as the steroids, but long term. If PFAPA patients have their tonsils and adenoids removed, 80% of them never get another fever. But if we go the steroid route, then he will still get fevers every 4 weeks, but the steroids will knock them down to lasting for 1-2 days and we will have to continue to deal with them until his body decides to outgrow them - some kids do it by 2nd grade while others carry it to their teens. So we will see what the next couple of weeks brings, until his next cycle we are enjoying Happy Emmy once again!