December, Part 8: The Last of December and New Year's Eve

Above: After very little snow, we finally got some great snow on Christmas. The boys were finally able to build a sled ramp and have some fun.

Above: New Year's Eve turned out to be a really random low-key day. Peter had been diagnosed with Pertussis (inaccurately as it later turned out), so we were kind of quarantined from family. The doctor told us that Peter was only contagious to adults who weren't up to date on their vaccines and babies that hadn't received all of their vaccinations yet. Well, since both sides of the family had young babies, that meant that family get togethers were out of the question. So, we stayed home by ourselves and I made Chinese food to keep with family tradition. However, Peter got invited to a New Year's Eve party over at Jonas' house. So, he went to that...and Jeremiah spent a little time over there too. So, Johnny and I celebrated by ourselves until it was time for bed. I ended up falling asleep around 11 p.m. It was kind of a disappointing holiday. Hopefully, things will end up differently next year.

As for the pertussis thing, we had taken Peter to a few different doctors over the course of about two months. At first, I thought he might have a cold that had turned into a sinus infection, so the physician's assistant at our pediatrician's office gave him some amoxicillin. However, he had an allergic reaction to it around Thanksgiving. So, we took him back to the doctor. At that point, they thought the rash could either be a reaction to the amoxicillin or it could be mono. At any rate, they assured us that it wasn't contagious at that point in time.

Then we took Peter to the allergist and she diagnosed him with Pertussis and ordered a blood test. In the meantime, she advised us to stay away from babies and adults who were behind in their vaccinations. So, we did. She said he was okay to go back to school after Christmas break however. A week after Peter was back in school, we received a call informing us that yes, Peter did indeed have Pertussis and that he needed to go on an antibiotic right away. I dutifully called Peter's school and informed them, talked to his teacher, and kept him home from church. We got the antibiotic (not penicillin-based per his possible allergy). However, they gave us some enormous horse pills! Peter doesn't know how to swallow pills and they were far too disgusting to crush up and disguise in food. In fact, when we tried to do that, Peter projectile vomited all over the kitchen. That was fun to clean up. So, we got some liquid antibiotic and had to bribe Peter with Legos in order to get him to take it. It was so hard! Peter has a major medicine aversion and getting him to take his medicine was not an easy task.

The school nurse seemed very confused when I reported the Pertussis thing. She talked to me about it and told me that if it had been accurately confirmed and reported that she would have been notified by the health department--and she hadn't been. She told me that blood tests are sometimes inaccurate because people who have been vaccinated can show as being positive. She called the health department to clarify and they told her that sometimes a blood test is administered and that it shows three different sets of results. Some numbers show a current case of Pertussis, some numbers show past cases, and some numbers show up when a person has been vaccinated.

Well, a few weeks later, I got a call from the health department to discuss the symptoms and treatments for Pertussis...and through our discussion she told me that Peter's symptoms really didn't match the symptoms of Pertussis. She said she would hunt down Peter's blood test to confirm the results. She called me the next day to tell me that Peter did NOT have Pertussis now--or ever. The numbers that were read that persuaded the allergist's office to confirm a case of Pertussis were the numbers that showed up for people who had been vaccinated--not the numbers that showed up for a current or recent case of Pertussis. So, all of the precautions, quarantines, warnings, etc. were all for naught. Yay! What a fun adventure!

You know, as a kid, I always thought that all doctors knew everything, and could cure anything, and all law enforcement officers were good, just, and merciful, and lawyers knew everything and could help you out...I'll tell you, when you grow up, you realize that every profession and every system has its flaws!

Shortly after I talked to the lady from the health department, Peter's cough simply went away on its own. Who knows what it was? It could have been a nervous tick that Peter developed after his initial cold...it could have been that sinus infection I wondered about...it could have been mono! But one thing is for sure, it wasn't Pertussis!