January was a whirlwind, and consisted of basketball. Between the three kids, Sydney played on one team, Taylor played on two and coached one, and Parker played on two. You can probably imagine how many games and practices and trainings there were!
Here are some of the things we did outside of basketball:
Besides all the Christmas activities, school, and basketball in December, we managed to squeeze in a few more things. Check them out!
School fun:
At the very beginning of December (December 2nd to be exact... the day after Taylor's birthday), Parker came down with a sickness... he had a high fever (101-103) for 2 full days. He was nauseas and was vomiting some. He had a bad headache. His throat hurt. I ran him to urgent care the second evening of these symptoms, fully expecting for him to test positive for strep.
They tested him for the big 3 (flu, strep, and covid) and all were negative. I was then waiting for the "it's a virus, it'll run its course" message. Before he left, the doctor said, "You know, I'm going to test him for mono. There have been some cases in this area lately. His lymph nodes aren't swollen so I'm almost positive he won't have it, but I'll check just in case." The nurse pricked his finger and told me the test would take 5-8 minutes to run.
Within 2 minutes, I heard the doctor outside go, "Are you KIDDING me?" He came in about a minute later and told us Parker's mono test was immediately positive. Eek.
I thought mono was just something that exhausted you. Well, it is... but it's so much more. Your fever can last up to 14 days (Parker's lasted about 6 days without ceasing, and then was on and off for a few more days). Sore throat, headaches and nausea are very common. One of the biggest things that I didn't know about was that your spleen enlarges with mono. Parker was told he couldn't do anything physical until his spleen went back to normal, as the chance of his spleen rupturing if it is hit/run into/touched hard is very high. That really stunk, because Parker is super active, and this meant no PE or basketball until he was cleared to play.
Two days after he was diagnosed, I got home from school and Parker was on the couch, moaning. His stomach was hurting him badly. I called a medical line, and the doctor did a facetime call with us. She had me push on his stomach in different places, and was concerned because where his stomach hurt him was where his liver was. Apparently, mono can also cause hepatitis! She told us to go to the ER to have them check his liver and spleen enzymes.
So, off we went... the wait was long, and he was in a lot of pain. When he got back to a room, the nurses and doctors were great. They tested his blood and felt around his abdomen. His liver was a little larger than normal, but blood did not show hepatitis. His spleen was still enlarged, and the doc said that when things get bigger, they shift your organs around in your abdomen, which causes a lot of pain, nausea and vomiting.
Luckily, we were sent home and given a prescription of zofran to help with his nausea.
So... this process has not at all been fun for him, but he did get cleared over the break to be able to play sports again. He gets winded very easily, so his coach is taking it easy putting him in games. They said that his exhaustion can linger for up to 6 months!
Since we found out he had mono in a kind of flukish way, I am putting a PSA out there... if you or your kid have some of these symptoms, have them check for mono! The spleen issue is super concerning for active people, and the thought of kids running around and being active with a potentially enlarged spleen is scary.
Since my dad passed away (in 2020), my whole family has gone away for a couple of nights for Christmas. We do Christmas morning at our own houses, and then drive to a different place to spend 2-3 nights. We've done Destin, Orange Beach, Jekyll Island, Charleston, and a lake in Alabama. This year, we decided to do a staycation at our house! Everyone stayed with us (minus my mom and Aunt, who stayed at my mom's house). We ate a ton, played games, many watched Stranger Things, we went out and did some shopping, etc. It was a blast, and it was really nice to be able to just stay put after Christmas!
Here is some of the fun that we had:
Another Christmas has come and go! I feel like the older I get, the holidays seem to fly by. I think the busy-ness of work and sports and life don't allow for us to sit back and take time to relish in the season!
We still had a great Christmas. I'll break it down into two parts. Christmas Eve/Christmas morning and then Christmas with my whole family!
Christmas Eve: We went to church (my mom and aunt joined us!) and then we went to my mom's house and ate pizza. We went to our friend's house for a Christmas Eve party later that evening, which was a lot of fun. The kiddos opened their one present that night!
