Dengue Expert

Robby has officially entered stage 2 of Dengue Fever. His temperature has been hovering between 101 and 102 degrees. This is a welcome relief from the 104- 105 degree temperatures that he has been registering since Sunday. Yesterday he spent the majority of the day in our living room instead of his bed, and he even quietly played with his Legos for a little while!

It was wonderful seeing glimmers of my healthy little boy. Unfortunately, I know that this reprieve is short lived. Dengue Fever consists of three distinct stages each with predictable hallmarks. In the next day or two as we enter stage 3, his fever will inevitably rise as Dengue rages its final assault. On the positive side, when the fever of stage 3 breaks, we begin the best stage- recovery. 

I have learned so much about Dengue Fever during the past week that I have become a walking (okay, hobbling) encyclopedia on the topic. I'm fairly confident that since the weekend, Scott and I have not had any conversations that do not revolve around Robby's illness . Taking care of him and trying to absorb as much information as possible has been all-consuming. (I'm sure that my readers will be happy when Robby has recovered just so they don't have to keep reading about it!)

Yesterday I made a concerted effort to be happy and Christmas-y, and changed into my favorite holiday sweatshirt and matching Santa pants. I listened to Christmas music and even managed to bake a batch of sugar cookies while Robby was napping. I really tried, but my attempt at lifting my spirits was a failure. By 11:00 A.M. I had turned off the music, changed into fresh pajamas, eaten at least a dozen cookies and curled up to watch seemingly endless episodes of Tom and Jerry with Robby. I won't be able to be happy until I know that Robby is out of the woods.

Hopefully in a few days I'll be able to move forward with the other aspects of my life. Right now, my focus is myopic. It is all Dengue- all the time.