Dear Noah.....you have PNEUMONIA!

You rarely tell me you feel poorly when you do. I can usually only determine this by looking at you or taking your temperature. At times when you should be telling me you feel like crap.....you will usually say you are "fine."

Today you woke up and when I finally saw your face in daylight I could tell right away things were not right. Your cheeks were on-fire RED! It looked very odd and your eyes looked glassy like kids do with a high fever. I took yours. It was 103! I immediately wondered if you could have parvovirus or Fifth's disease....because you had the typical "slapped cheeks" look.....this is how red your cheeks were earlier!




Since it was a Saturday and our docs are not in and too far away to travel on these snow-covered messy roads anyway....I opted to not wait for the After Hours Clinic to open at our local hospital but instead to just take you to the ER after I gave you a dose of Motrin. It is the same place as the After Hours Clinic anyway......they just bill differently for it.

Since we got there really early there was no one else ahead of us....you got right in...right back....and waited on pretty quickly. I have always been impressed with how QUICKLY they do see you in the hospital here and work with you.

The doctor who examined you said he did not like how your left lung sounded and he wanted to get a chest x-ray. He came back telling us you definitely had pneumonia. So he prescribed high-dose antibiotics and some over the counter stuff for your fever and congestion, cough, and sent you home. He felt your red face was from the fever and not parvo or fifth's disease because usually only younger children get that. SINCE your fever has come down some your face is looking better!

My poor little guy. You look so pitiful but when asked on a percentage scale of how well you felt with 100% being the best you could feel...you said you felt 75%.

We are now home, and you have gotten all your meds in which was not easy and I have slathered your neck and chest with Vicks and put you back in your jammies. I am going to turn the furnace OFF or way down and you will get a lot of Sprite or Juice or Rootbeer or popsicles. LOTs of fluids and rest.

This is what your face looks like now. It looks much better. I did not take a picture of it this morning before heading out to the doctor. Guess I should have because I have never seen anyone's face look like that before. BRIGHT BRIGHT RED over both cheeks all the way back to your ears....both sides......very strange looking. NOW you have a slight red spot but only on ONE side of your face. The other side has cleared away. So here is what you look like now:





I love you Noah. I do hope and pray you feel better soon. I am fighting off something myself but doubt it is pneumonia.

Lots of kisses!

Mommy
XOXOX

THIS IS YOU....sleeping it off with Opie......right before you ran to the bathroom and had diarrhea and threw up! AT the same time! My poor little man.....you are very sick.