Bitten??

Saturday evening during a Christmas dinner we were having over here, I noticed a small little purple mark on Dawson's stomach right about where the waistband of his diaper is. Didn't think too much about it and actually kind of thought he fell down somewhere and got a little bruise or something. Later on that evening we noticed the purple dot had two little fang looking marks and now was accompanied by a red circle around the bruise about the size of a dime. Then the redness covered about the size of a quarter and then the size of a half dollar. Now we realize that obviously were looking at a bite mark of some kind.

My worst fear ( because they are in our area, and we have seen a few before) was that he was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider. http://www.your-inner-voice.com/brownreclusespider.html
If you are squeemish please do not click on this link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It not only shows you what the spider looks like, but it shows what the venom is capable of doing.

I myself have been bitten before but luckily I was spared some of the horrific effects the venom can cause. His bite certainly looked like some of the bites I have seen on the Internet. So Sunday we call his Pediatrician and get an appointment to have him looked at. His Doctor thankfully did not think it was a Brown Recluse bite because he said usually within 12 to 24 hours the wound is already starting to show signs of flesh being destroyed. He said he was obviously bitten by something but theres no telling what. He was concerned the bite was turning into a staff infection so we were given some good antibiotics and sent on our way with the hopes that everything would be ok.

Tonight there is still a large red inflamed area around the bite mark ( about the size of a child's hand) but it seems to be better than yesterday and not so inflamed looking. Hopefully he will continue to get better!!

AND.... his seizures have gotten a little worse again too. Not sure if its because his body is fighting off this infection or what but we are not seeing the one to two day seizure free spells anymore. His clusters of spasms over the last few days have once again increased in numbers and intensity a little. UGGG!

But on the bright side, despite the seizures, over the past couple of days his talking skills have taken off again. He is saying all kinds of new stuff just right out of the clear blue. God always finds a way to show us how amazing he is. Its during the harder times that his hand in this becomes even more prominant to us.

This week is a busy one. Ashlyn and Katelin are here for the week ( Oh how I love it when we are all together!!) and on Wednesday we will be travelling to Vanderbilt because Katelin is getting an insulin pump. HOORAY!!!! I am so happy for her and this opportunity she has to better manage her insulin without having to get multiple shots a day. She is such an awesome kid!!

So were still moving right along ( at warp speed it seems most of the time.) With Seizures, Diabetes, and wicked spider bites going on, hopefully the rest of the week will be smooth sailing.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers in these areas.

Love to all

Jeff and Allison