Home again, home again . . .

Our nearly 10-day vacation was cut short. =0( Sadly, Isaiah couldn't handle it . . . more precisely, his body couldn't handle it. We left Tuesday evening after I had gotten off of work, and made it to Tennessee by Wednesday evening . . . where we got, um, stuck. Seriously, Isaiah's body just wasn't tolerating the trip. Wednesday, Isaiah started flushing. It wasn't too bad, but he was showing other signs of stress - he was shaking his hands a lot and jumping quite a bit.

Thursday, we decided to stay an extra night in Cleveland, TN then try to leave for WV on Friday. Thursday, Isaiah started flushing even more - and the weather was in the mid 70's to low 80's during the day! Of course, Isaiah's perfect temp is somewhere in the 60's and low 70's . . . but, it was still cooler than FL. Anyway, we walked around on Lee University's campus for a bit, visiting a few of my professors and buildings that I had classes in. It was so nice to be back on Lee's campus - I can hardly believe I graduated 6 years ago . . . and in 6 years, the campus has changed so much!

New School of Ministry building at Lee

Thursday evening went rather well, so we thought that maybe Isaiah's bit of flushing was just one of those things we expect on a pretty much daily basis. Really, it was a red face, but nothing too bad. So, Friday morning we decided to travel north into WV. About an hour into the trip, Isaiah was red . . . really red . . . and we were in the air conditioned car. I think we made it to Knoxville, not so far from Cleveland. We stopped to eat, and decided to turn around and go to Chattanooga (the hotels where Isaiah could stay were pretty much full). By the time we were in Chattanooga, Isaiah was okay, but still a tad pink. Since he's not the one to stay in a little room for very long, we decided an activity at the train museum would be something fun to do . . . it was, and Isaiah did get to ride a train for the very first time . . . okay, so a full-sized train for the very first time. =0) No worries, the car (which Isaiah called Annie) was an air conditioned car and protected from the coal from the locomotive. =0) He loved it . . . especially since a man who looked like Santa Claus was our conductor. =0)

Surprise, Santa! =0)

By the end of the train ride (and by the time we got back to the hotel) Isaiah was bright red - bright, yet deeply red. He was also in a lot of pain - his arms, legs, and head were hurting. He wasn't dehydrated nor had he over-exerted himself by jumping or running too much - we were riding a train. In fact, I carried him through the museum and he sat the whole time on the train ride. The cooling vest, which I thought would be helpful in this type of a situation, didn't help much at all . . . but it wasn't (just) the heat that was causing the problem. Anyway, I had already given him 2 doses of Benadryl (once when we stopped for lunch and once before the train ride), but I gave him a third to try and stop a larger reaction. He was soooo grumpy (probably from the Benadryl and reaction - hard to really say which one caused what).

Polar Express, anyone?

Saturday, we slept in and then decided to try to salvage the vacation a little. So we went to another museum where we thought we could have a little fun, but still keep Isaiah calm. It didn't work. In fact, Isaiah just about collapsed. Just going from the car to the entrance of the museum, Isaiah fell to the ground and began saying, "It's too hot! I hurt!" Talk about scary. He went from a pale color (not all that unusual for him) to a bright and deep red little boy that resembled a lobster . . . again. So, more Benadryl, which seemed to help the pain more than the redness, and a car trip back to the hotel . . . and a nap. Boy, was it nice to have that nap. =0)



By this point, we knew we needed to go back home. Staying out any longer would not be a good idea, and the longer we stayed, the more likely a bigger reaction would occur. So, we decided to leave Sunday morning. Sounds easy, right? Well, it would have been, except we slept in, then had to stop for potty breaks. I think we finally made it back to FL by 12:30 AM or so. At least we were home . . . and Isaiah had slept for a good portion of the trip, but was ready to straight to bed as soon as we got home. =0)


Which now brings me to Monday. Since Isaiah had so many issues during the trip, I thought it might be a good thing to call his local allergist (no need to add a 3 hour trip to St. Pete). =0) It was a good thing, too - Isaiah was flushed when he woke up . . . and he had a slight fever (not unusual with a reaction). So, off to the doctor to find out why this was happening. Or, at least I thought we would have a vague understanding of what was going on.



The doctor was glad we came back, because Isaiah's mast cells were certainly reacting. Still no idea why, though . . . the doctor said it could have been several things: the change in environments, the weather changes/changes in temperature (going from an air conditioned car to the warm/hot air outside), with Isaiah, it's hard to say . . . she used the very familiar statement that, "Isaiah is just another one of those medical mysteries." Anyway, Isaiah's lips were slightly swollen, his heart rate was a bit too fast, and he was rashy. Thankfully, his lungs were clear and his nose looked good. =0) She said that had Isaiah been in the hospital, she would recommend an IV to try and dilute the chemicals in his blood (released by those wayward mast cells), but since he wasn't, force fluids and rest, rest, rest . . . and no outside time until his body calms down. =0( I was concerned that I didn't use the Epi, but she assured me that it was okay since he wasn't anaphylaxing, but having a reaction of some kind. Yet another dose of Benadryl, a dose of Gastrocrom, and Tylenol later, and Isaiah's flushing and pain subsided.


He's doing so well today that he has only had those red dots (oh yeah, I forgot to mention those . . . they were present during all of this, too) and slight flushing on his cheeks. =0) He is starting to eat again, and is actually playing today. Yay! Other than that, he is pale and has those dark circles that tell us he has had some kind of allergic reaction. Even though he was excited to go on the trip, he's extremely happy to be home. =0)


Well, that's all that's happening here. =0) I'll keep you posted. =0)