2 days before Serenity’s diagnosis

I stumbled across an email I wrote to Phil’s cousin. It’s dated two days before we got Serenity’s diagnosis.

Every week or two Serenity gets a raging fever. 104 w/o medication but it usually comes down with Motrin. Last time I took her in – I rarely do that – she had a bad double ear infection. I wouldn’t normally do the antibiotics so readily but she also had an upper respiratory infection and where her teeth were waiting to be pulled was all abcessed. So we did the abx and she felt great and then we both got yeast and it was awful. She’s been through a lot lately. Her hand was slammed in the door a couple of weeks ago, it’s still blue and black and a bit puffy. She can move her fingers but I think she’ll lose the nail, it looks so bad. She’s got a hacking cough and (clear) runny nose. All of this I think is ok but suddenly the familiar fever, and it’s been nagging at me that she bruises SO easily. I mean Phil holds her legs to change her diaper and she looks like she has been abused. Horrible, deep dark bruises all over her body, ever time she falls down. And I wonder whether something is wrong with her.

We have a great ped, but no insurance and right now no money so I am not taking her in. She actually seems a little better today than yesterday. Yesterday she alternated sleeping and screaming at the top of her lungs all day and evening, even with the Motrin.

Any ideas?

It was weird to read, because I don’t remember her being that sick. I do remember thinking she was sicker than my other kids had been.

I am so grateful for modern medicine and the miracles that have made it possible for Serenity to be alive and well today.