We're Home!

Cooper was released on Thursday night. He is doing so much better and is bouncing back to his usually funny happy self pretty well. We had a follow up with the pediatrician on Friday, picked up my dad on Saturday and ventured into Boston today for some fun. The final verdict on Cooper's illness is that there is no real diagnosis, the doctors were only able to rule out what he did not have- Kawasaki disease being one of them, also not mono, a bacterial infection, or the flu. They tested for a few other viruses, but none came back with a positive result. Because there are so many viruses out there we will likely never know for sure what caused him to be so sick. However, to be on the safe side in case it was an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he was prescribed on Friday evening (Bactrim) we're putting sulfa's to a list of allergies he has. It's frustrating not knowing what was wrong, but I am just happy he is recovering well. I am also thankful that we live near such great hospitals, particularly Mass General, and Children's Hospital Boston. The doctors are really great at both places. However, Children's is a teaching hospital very close to Harvard, so when word spread on Cooper's floor that there was a potential case of Kawasaki, every Harvard Med student around swarmed in at various times to check out Cooper's rash, listen to him breathe, asking him to open his mouth. After a while it was just too much, and he clearly did not want to open his mouth or or allow them to look in his ears, etc. Poor little guy had been going through enough getting an IV put in, an EKG, and echo, blood drawn from the arm opposite the IV, and being connected to fluids to keep him hydrated. Not to mention, since he had some flu-like symtoms even though the regular flu test was negative, they still had to test for swine flu and those results take 7 days to come back. Because of that risk, plus the potential for a contagious virus, any doctor, nurse, or other employee that came into his room had to wear a mask, gown, and gloves. After the experience was all done Cooper mentioned that he didn't want the monsters to hurt his arm. I got him a medical set of his own to help him work through his feelings about his stay and so far it's been a hit. He loves to take our blood pressure, temperature, use the stethoscope, and give us shots. The only thing left is to continue to monitor him, and take him to the lab in a couple of weeks for a final blood draw to make sure everything is OK there. I am thankful he is feeling better and I hope the week at home with Papa D helps him recover even more. While I know he needed to be evaluated as he was for the possible serious medical issues he could have had, I feel bad that he had to go through all he did to recover. But, the other night as I was reading him bedtime stories he gave me a hug and said, "Mommy, you take good care of me." I melted. What a sweet little guy.