welcome to spiceland.

We are all three pretty miserable. The added complication of her infection being resistant to the first 2 antibiotics has made this ordeal even worse than the last one. We finished her 2nd antibiotic yesterday (this is not including the one she had an allergic reaction to) and took her in to the doctor for a follow-up appointment this morning. The strep throat was gone, but her ear infection is still raging — it wasn’t helped at all by the Zithromax. So now she’s on a fourth antibiotic called Clindamycin, which is VILE. Not only does it taste horrible (I tasted it myself), but it’s a much larger volume of liquid too. She has to take 2 teaspoons 3 times a day for 10 days. By the time I add flavoring to it, which only makes it taste a little better, she’s taking 4 teaspoons of liquid every 4-6 hours. It also causes bad diarrhea, so I’m going to have to give her live bacterial cultures to counteract that. I have to give those to her at least 2 hours after doses of the antibiotic (or the antibiotic will kill the culture), so that makes five doses of medicine at separate times everyday. She’s not good at taking medicine, either. I have to hold her hands and head and squeeze the medicine into her mouth with a syringe in small enough quantities that she can’t spit it out. It takes about 10 minutes for every dose of medicine. It breaks my heart to hold her down like that, but she’s already had this infection for two weeks, and we would be risking permanent hearing loss if we didn’t treat it. I swear, if we live through this, I am going to be the queen of handwashing and hand sanitizer. That kid is NEVER getting sick again!

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Our backyard is fenced in. Normally Seiko, our dog, is let outside multiple times a day to go out in the back yard and she is let back inside. We also have a camera pointed at our front door on a motion sensor. It normally lets us know if someon delivers a package and stuff llike that. Today, it caught someone, who was supposed to only be in the backyard, visiting our front door.

Update: pictures of her rash taken April 27th.

Well, here we go again. Tru has erythema multiforme again. For background on last time, see here, here, here, then here, and see here for pictures. We went to the doctor Friday, April 18th because she had a fever, and she tested positive for strep throat that day. They prescribed Omnicef, a mild cephalosporin antibiotic which she’s had several times with no reaction. She got better but then developed a fever again by the next Friday (yesterday). We took her back in, and she had bad ear infections in both ears. They prescribed Ceftin, a stronger cephalosporin antibiotic, and told us to stop with the Omnicef. It tasted horrible, so we were only able to get her to take a half dose that night and another half dose or less this morning. We probably wasted 3 doses attempting to get that small amount into her! Since we were so unsuccessful administering the antibiotics, we called the doctor this morning and asked if they could do it in the form of a shot, which we knew would be much more effective and convenient. They agreed and we went in. Between the time we spoke on the phone and the time we got to the doctor’s office, Tru had developed a bright red, splotchy rash on her legs, arms, and face. They told us that it may be an allergic reaction to Ceftin, so they didn’t want to give her the shot, which would also be a strong cephalosporin. They sent us home with a prescription for Zithromax, which is not as effective on ear infections but is the only other option since Tru is also allergic to penicillins. By the time she woke up from her nap around 5, her rash had developed hives and become very itchy. We were positive by this time that she was developing erythema multiforme again. We took her to the emergency room because the doctor’s office had closed, so that she could be prescribed steroids. We’re back at home now, and she has steroids in her system. Last time, it took 48 hours or more from the onset of the rash to get steroids into her. This time, it took only 12 hours, so we are hoping and praying that the reaction is less severe since we caught it early.

As I understand right now, penicillins and cephalosporins are the two most effective classes of antibiotics for children under the age of about 15. However, we have to proceed now as if Tru is allergic to all penicillins and all cephalosporins except Omnicef, which means until she gets much older, she will be extremely limited in the treatment she can receive for bacterial infections. There are other antibiotics not in those two classes, but they are not nearly as effective as penicillins and cephalosporins. The Zithromax she’s on now is not in either of those classes, but it is one of those ineffective antibiotics. We’re basically just crossing our fingers hoping that it will be able to knock out this infection, especially since Omnicef was also ineffective this time for some reason, when it is usually much more effective than Zithromax. Please pray that Tru not only recovers quickly from her erythema multiforme, but that the antibiotic she is on now is effective against her infection and that she remains healthy enough in the next ten years that her allergies don’t prevent her from getting good treatment for any infections she may develop. About 5% of people who are allergic to penicillins are also allergic to cephalosporins.

My (Erin’s) Uncle Ron passed away today. Uncle Ron was an amazing man. He was extremely generous and always positive. It was uplifting just to be around him, and everyone who knew him loved him. He passed away from complications from surgery around 3PM CST today. Please pray for his family, especially his wife Susan and son Erick, as we are mourning a great loss. It gives me great comfort knowing that he is in Heaven right now singing God’s praises with my mother, his sister in law.

Tru got her first school pictures taken! Proofs are back and ready for ordering. If anybody wants any, please email us and let us know which pictures and what sizes. NOTE: The one where it looks like her head is cut off only looks like that because I did a poor job scanning it in. Her head is not cut off. It’s composed properly. In the one where it looks like her feet are cut off, her feet really are cut off.

Packages (one proof per package)
A $55 – One 10×13, Two 8×10, Twelve wallets, and Two 3×5.
B $40 – Two 8×10, Two 5×7, Twelve wallets, Two 3×5
C $28 – One 8×10, Two 5×7, Eight wallets, Two 3×5
D $22 – Two 5×7, Eight wallets, Two 3×5
E $17 – Two 5×7
F $14 – One 5×7, Four wallets
G $12 – One 8×10
H $14 – Four 3×5
I $14 – Eight wallets
J $14 – One mouse pad

Or tell us individual pictures you want and we will try to make packages out of what everybody wants.

The other news is that Tru wrote her own name this week. She got her “u” upside down, but she wrote this all by herself with no prompting. We didn’t even tell her how to spell it. She’s 3 years and 4 months old, and she is so smart!