Good News, and Will Both Kiddos Ever Be Well At the Same Time Again??

It's been a heck of a couple of months.

I didn't mean for the last post to be a cliff-hanger, but the last two months have probably been the craziest of our entire lives, seriously.

First, my biopsy results - the second opinion pathologist said it wasn't a tumor at all, it was totally normal endometrial tissue. I kept the gyn onc appointment, and she said getting a second opinion was exactly what she would have done, and the pathologist I got it from was exactly the person she would have sent it to. So for her, she said it "put it to rest". She was willing to do a hysterectomy if I wanted, but I've done some more research on that, and I think I'm going to hold off, at least for now.

So I'm hugely relieved about that, but the same day I got the second opinion, Baby Z was diagnosed with bronchiolitis. Since then (mid-April):

* Baby Z had to go to the ER, diagnosed with an ear infection

* Baby Z was admitted to the hospital for 4 days due to the bronchiolitis

Let me just say that an 8-month-old (who can control where his hands/arms go) in the hospital is a totally different experience than a 4-month-old (who has very little control over his hands/arms) in the hospital. I spent four days in a chair constantly saying "No, don't put that cord in your mouth!" while trying to keep the oxygen cannula cord and oxygen monitor cord away from Z, who had not a single bit of interest in the myriad toys and books we brought with us. Because, you know, they're not nearly as fun as medical equipment!

* I was diagnosed with stress-induced gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), literally couldn't eat more than a bite for about 3 days, have lost 15 pounds from it, and am still not back to 100%, almost 2 months later.

* Baby Z back in the ER, turns out the first round of antibiotics didn't clear up the ear infection, so he had to do a second, stronger round.

* Miss A was diagnosed with a strep infection that settled in the lower part of her GI system, after a scary amount of blood appeared in her panties.

* Baby Z developed bronchiolitis again (after having been in the hospital for it 2 weeks prior)

* Miss A's first antibiotics weren't strong enough to fight the strep, she spiked a fever and had to be switched to a stronger antibiotic

* Miss A got the stomach flu

* Literally while R was holding her and I had to cancel a work meeting 5 minutes before it was scheduled to start so that I could clean her up, we found out via text that R's dad had to call 911 and be rushed to the hospital because his defibrillator had to shock his heart out of an abnormal rhythm while he was home alone

* R's dad had to call 911 and be rushed by ambulance to the hospital for a second time 5 days later

* We had 10 blissful days during which no one required medical attention - yea!

All of that happened in literally the span of 4 weeks. It brings us to two and a half weeks ago, when:

* R's dad had heart surgery

* Baby Z developed another fever and his 3rd round of bronchiolitis in 5 weeks

* Baby Z's fever spiked to 105.5 during a nap, had to be taken to the ER, was X-rayed and diagnosed with pneumonia (for the 2nd time in 5 months)

* We drove him 90 minutes to a pediatric pulmonologist, who ordered bloodwork to check his immune system and more X-rays

So last Saturday, Baby Z and I spent half the day running around getting his tests. We don't have the results yet. And then yesterday he started coming down with something again. So far it sounds like all the congestion is just in his nose, but I'll probably take him in again this week to make sure it isn't a 4th round of bronchiolitis in 6 weeks.

In the midst of all that, I organized a retirement party for a former teacher of R's and mine. (My offer to do it came about a month before all the chaos started.) I was originally thinking 50-100 people would come, but thanks to the power of social media, more than 800 people were invited, and about 300 came.

And R found out he would be affected by a furlough at work, which I'm actually quite happy about. It involves one day off unpaid every other week, for at least 20 weeks. So it's basically a 10% pay cut, but right now it will actually be really nice for R to have some time off, so I'm secretly hoping the furlough will be extended beyond September.

So that's been our spring. Let's hope summer is calm and uneventful - we sure could use that kind of a summer!