The boy in the striped pajamas

Monday morning started with Julien making awful retching noises. I discovered he had thrown up in his crib and he was unable to hold down his breakfast. Past that, the rest of his day was great. That morning, Mémé watched Julien so I could take Luis to the hospital for a complete blood count, CBC as they call it. As expected, his neutrophils were low meaning his immunity was low. Otherwise, he seemed OK with no real side effects.

Luis at the hospital for a CBC

By bedtime, however, I noticed he was warm and he was complaining that his tummy hurt. At 8:00 p.m., his temperature was 37.5°C under the arm. At this temperature, I needed to wait an hour or so to see if it would increase. This gave me time to prepare a change of clothes, some snacks, Luis' medical binder, etc and put Mémé on babysitter alert for a potential trip to the hospital. Within the hour, his temp jumped to 38.5°C and we were off to the hospital. His temp was taken at the hospital and it was even higher, 39.8°C (approx. 103.6 F). With that news, we are now bound to this hospital room for at least 48 hours. He is in "protective isolation". Every time someone enters the room, they have to gown up and put on a mask and gloves to reduce the spread of germs.

Tied to the bed for 48 hours with the Wii to keep us company

Since arriving, they have taken cultures to find the source of infection. The doctor's check-up didn't reveal a source of infection, suggesting he has a viral infection. This seems to make sense since Luis and Julien spent the weekend with their dad at the grandparents' house and most people in that house were sick by the end of the weekend, including Julien, as already mentioned.

Thankfully, Luis seems to be feeling OK now. His temperature crept back up to 38°C when the Tylenol wore off though so he was given another dose. It's hard for him being here. He keeps asking to go home but we're stuck within these walls.

Poor lil' buddy.

--Mommy