Ear infection
On Friday, 10/15, we brought James to his
pediatrician's office to check up on a possible ear infection. I had noticed
that James sometimes wakes up rubbing his right ear, and he had an ear infection
that was caught at his previous pediatrician visit (5 month checkup on 9/23,
with a followup on 10/4 which showed his ears were cleared). I feared this was
a repeat infection, and when brought him on Friday, it was verified that he had
another ear infection in the same ear. So, more amoxicillin, including at
daycare. I asked Frances this morning to try to feed James so that he's
reclining more to his left side than his right, just so the right ear drains
better.
Raining
today.
Friday evening, Hsuan (Heather)
cooked up steaks for dinner, in our ongoing and renewed battle to get William to
eat more varied meats and vegetables. Previously his exposure to meats was
mostly chicken and ground beef (in burgers), so this was his first steak. He
took to steak like a carnivore, chowing down so much on it that I had a hard
time getting green beans into him. Well, battle partially won that day, I
guess.
Last week, Hsuan spent a couple
of days in Washington, DC. Today and tomorrow, it's Kansas City. I'm
exhausting myself over time. Plus, my visit to Dr. Smith on last Monday
confirmed that I have elevated liver enzymes yet again, though this does not
necessarily explain why I've been having recurring fevers each month. I may
have forgotten to mention it in my previous entries. Basically, I've been sick
with fevers about once a month since June. Debilitating for a few days, up to a
week. Most doctors, including my primary (Dr. Tran), have chalked it up to
viruses and have sent me home for bed rest, etc. Only Dr. Smith, my allergist
(also an immunologist) has taken interest in the fact that it is recurring. So,
I got a blood test after my 9/29 appointment with him, plus I collected my blood
test results from 8/15-8/16, during the August bout of the fever. On 10/10, I
had a followup with Dr. Smith, and we went over the results, finding the
elevated liver enzymes. This has been an occasional problem over the past few
years, also caught by Dr. Tran during annual checkups. It usually goes away a
few weeks later. Could it be liver disease? Liver damage? Or just a reaction
of my liver to whatever infection it is that I've been having? Previous
ultrasound verified that my liver is not enlarged, and Dr. Smith probed my
abdomen and found no evidence of tenderness, etc. He has a theory that maybe
there's an abscess on my liver that occasionally "seeds" my bloodstream, causing
my fevers. Regardless, he ordered a CT scan of my liver to get a better
picture, and I have a CT scan appointment for this Wednesday.
Posted: Mon - October 17, 2005 at 01:57 PM