The Spots

My last post and picture made Luca's chicken pox seem mild....well let me tell you it wasn't. After I put that post on the net the spots got worse and worse - many looked infected and they seriously covered his entire body. He had a fever for about a week, and was so uncomfortable (whiny/cranky/itchy) that he barely slept for 5 days straight. We went to the Dr. twice - who confirmed it was a REALLY bad case. He's on several different meds now and after 5 hellish days I can say that he does seem to be on the mend now.

I used to think that all those parents that called in sick to look after an ill child had it pretty easy. Put on some cartoons, grab some books from the library, hang out with your child while they get better.....but NO...not anymore. Tending to a very ill child is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the world.

This whole chicken pox episode was quite difficult for James and I b/c we felt like we had done everything we could, but still it was hard to see Luca suffer so much or lay in bed itching when he was supposed to be sleeping. It made us think about all those that have it way worse than us. I mean, this is after all just the chicken pox.

What about all those parents who are dealing with child cancer. How do you explain the suffering and pain to a child when they don't fully understand? How do you manage to watch your children suffer? I know that kids are quite resilent and more often than not are able to deal with things like illness....but the parents....who knew that it would be so tough to be a parent and have to watch your children go through something as horrible as that.

When we went back to the Dr on Wed (b/c we were so incredibly worried about Luca's high temp, and 1000 infected spots) we were isolated to a little area of the waiting room out of site from the other patients. A few kids walked by us and they couldn't help but stare at Luca. I mean, who can blame them, he did look REALLY bad. Eyes swollen, covered in big huge red spots all over his face/arms/trunk. Then we got to thinking....what if your child had a disfigurement or disability where you constantly had to deal with people looking and staring and wandering what was wrong. I know, you'd find ways to deal, and get used to it after a while - and count all the blessings you did have....but still....it'd be tough to deal with.

So even though we've been to hell and back this past week, we feel incredibly lucky and incredibly blessed at just how good we really do have it. We're so lucky to have a (mostly) healthy little boy. Fingers crossed the next one comes out the same. I don't care if it's a boy or girl at this stage, as long as it's healthy.