Recovery

Just a quick post to update you on Charlie. I promise, the next post will have pictures!

Even after the diagnosis of the penicillin allergy, and the doctor saying it might get worse before it gets better, I wasn't quite prepared for what Charlie went through Thursday through Saturday. His rash got worse, his whole body swelled up, and his joint pain caused him to scream if we barely touched him at all. It was so awful! He could not sit up on his own much less stand or walk. All he wanted to do was lay in our laps, which if you know Charlie, is very unlike him.

Friday night was the worst because his fever was also 104 on top of the swelling and pain. We took him back to the doctor Saturday, where they described this as a "textbook" severe allergic reaction and showed him around the whole clinic so everyone could see how "classic" his rash was. They also prescribed steroids, which seemed to make a big difference. By Saturday night, the swelling was down and he was actually walking around. At that point he was taking the steroids, the (new) antibiotic, Motrin, Tylenol, and Benadryl around the clock. I fear his days of effortlessly taking medicine are over.

In spite of how terrible he felt, as he was sitting there with us propping him up to watch TV, he would still do a fish face, or barely do his head dance, or do a big sigh. So our normal Charlie was hiding in there, ready to come out! That part was really sweet but it made us so sad for how he looked and felt.

The good news is, he is almost back to normal now. He still has some hives that come and go (and ITCH) but the fever is gone, the ear infection is gone, most of the rash is gone, and the swelling is down. Two nights ago he weighed 25 lbs 12 oz and tonight he is back to 23 lbs 13 oz. That means he had two pounds of fluid on him!!!! That is so much!!! I am just glad he is acting happy and normal again.