Covid, Croup and Candy

 The week leading up to Halloween was very eventful in the Mitchell house. We got a call from Kate’s school that she was possibly exposed to Covid and so she needed to stay home from school all week. That same day she ended up having a fever. When Bowers came home from school that afternoon, she too had a fever. After I had picked Kate up from school we went straight to have Covid tests but the results would not be back for 48 hours. I thought we may actually have it since both girls had fevers. After I put George to sleep I noticed he was having a hard time breathing. He was so congested that it was waking him up each time he tried to take a breath. It was a very strange and unfamiliar sound that he was making as he tried to breath. We took his temperature and sure enough he had a 101 temp. I called the on call hematologist and they said take him in to the ER. When we woke him he was complaining that his stomach hurt. I assumed this was actually his chest hurting and him just describing it wrong. On the drive to the ER I was proven wrong on my assumption of him not describing his symptoms correctly. George starting throwing up all over the place. I am not sure where all of this throw up was stored inside of his little body because the sheer volume of throw up was mind blowing. My car may never be the same again. After a Covid test, a flu test, a viral panel, chest X-rays and a high dose IV antibiotic we were told that it was just a common cold most likely and that his body is very immune compromised so any small sickness would affect him much worse. We came home at 2:30 and went straight to bed. By 6:30 the next morning George was very very sick. He was coughing terribly and was having a hard time catching his breath. I sent a video of him to his dr and they said to immediately take him back to the ER. When we got there they gave him some steroid shots that would almost immediately open up his airway. We only had to stay there until around 1:30 and he already had gotten so much better by the time we got home. The virus that he contracted turned into Croup and so this was what the coughing and breathing issues were from. The steroids lasted 36 hours and George made an almost full recovery by the time they wore off. Good thing too. Halloween was just around the corner and he has never been more excited about anything else. By this time Kate’s Covid test came back and she too was negative. Things were really looking up now. Halloween arrived and it was everything that George had imagined it to be. He was literally smiling huge and skipping the entire night. Waving and yelling “Happy Halloween” to every single person we passed. Since we were in the hospital last Halloween, this was George’s first official Halloween to trick or treat. I let him pick out his costume this year and he was undeniably the cutest Vampire, I mean “zampire” there ever was. We were so excited to be able to trick or treat as a whole family this year and it chocked me up thinking about how much had changed in one year. We went to the surgeon yesterday for a meeting about his port removal. George will be having surgery on Monday, November 23rd. It’s just really surreal to think about. The port removal symbolizes the completion of this transplant journey. This means that George is well enough to only have to go to the dr once every three months then six months then once a year. Wow. Just wow. God, you have given this miracle of life to us. You have followed through on all of your promises. You have healed George. We are standing on the finish line right now and are about to step over it with our hands held high praising the one who brought us here. Big prayers that George stays healthy and strong leading up to the surgery so that there are no set backs. Big prayers for his surgeon and anesthesiologist. Big prayers for no complications while they are removing the port. The possible complications made my head spin but I’m not going there. This is going to be a perfect procedure and is going to be the end of this long journey for George’s road to health. I can’t wait!!! 

Psalm 105:1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!