Noah Day 2 of Illness (much improved photo)
Noah had a bit of a rough end to his weekend, developing bacterial/chemical conjunctivitis that came accompanied by a fever. It came on rather quickly like in a matter of hours a slightly red eye exploded into a swollen, crusty, draining eye that quickly spread to the second eye. Poor little guy isn't happy about his eye ointment treatments, and it is much improved today, although it still looks very bad.
Daddy bought him a Nemo stuffed animal fish, and Grandma got him a new Elmo DVD to make him feel better. He was rather sad and and his tone was floppy most of yesterday, an indication that he indeed was under the weather. The heat I don't think helps, as I'm trying my best to keep the house as cool as I can for him. Doctors say it most likely that Noah acquired the bug at pool therapy, since he is not able to get his hands to his eyes. I'm sure he wants to they have to bother him. I see him trying to rub the sides of his face on the floor. He's no longer contagious, which is good news for Luke who I think didn't catch it (only time will tell as I'm not really sure about the incubation period on this germ). And they say that he'll look pretty normal by Thursday, and I'm crossing my fingers and toes.
I'm also having to wash his bedding and all that he touches daily since he lays on the floor and surfaces so the germ doesn't stay there and re-infect him. Makes for lots of laundry and busy work for me on top of having to handle a special needs little one and a baby. Thank goodness that Noah's little brother is very patient.
I was able to meet a new neighbor on one of our evening walks with the boys. Chris had to keep walking, as Noah hates it if he isn't on the move, while I chatted. Her husband has MS, and she recently quit work to care for him. It was nice just to talk to someone who understands, who knows what this feels like, the fear and sadness that accompanies it all. We hugged and cried on the sidewalk together. She is such a beautiful person and I share her pain. This isn't easy being a caregiver to someone you love and knowing you are limited in the fact that you cannot cure or fix them. For a moment I didn't feel so alone on the block. Someone understood. We promised to take a walk or have coffee together sometime soon. No one should feel alone in this and it will probably be really good for the both of us.
Please say a little prayer for Noah that his battle with conjunctivitis is short lived. I miss his clear baby blues.
Love,
Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.