February has traditionally not been a good month health wise for my youngest daughter.
Three years ago she was diagnosed with mono. We had taken her to the ER with severe stomach pains that we thought could have been appendicitis. We were all surprised we the test results came back that she had mono instead. To this day, we still have no idea where she would have caught it. She ended up having complications, and was pretty much out of commission most of the month.
A week after her diagnosis we were at the pediatrician's office with more stomach pains. The pediatrician sent us to the pediatric ER, because it looked like she really was having appendicitis that time. After a several hour hospital stay and an ultrasound, it turned out she had adenitis, which an infection of the adnoids right where her appendix should have been located. Two days after that, she had to go to the ER again to have an emergency cat scan. She had ran into her brother, and fell to the ground hard. She was in so much pain they thought she ruptured her spleen. Luckily she didn't, but she was in pain for awhile. About ten days after that, she was in the ER again with severe pains. This time she had an Xray. She had been on pain medication for over 3 weeks, and it had slowed her down so much that she had become very constipated. Luckily that was the last time she had to go to the ER... she had been there 4 times in 24 days!
Last year at this time she developed a pretty bad allergy to perfumes, hand sanitizer, and other strong scents that give her asthma like symptoms. She goes to middle school, which reeks of perfumes and cologne, and until we knew what was wrong, she was sick a lot. I think she missed about 10 days of school between January and February. The constant smell of perfume gave her headaches and nausea. Now she takes precautions, and wears scarves to protect her nose and mouth if needed. All of her teachers allow to to leave the room if she needs fresh air. She has an emergency inhaler if begins to have an asthma attack. We went she got the diagnosis we went to Jo-Ann Fabrics to find material to make some scarves. We ended buying some scarves instead, and still need to use our fabric to make the ones we planned on making.
A few weeks ago, she started feeling sick frequently again. She was complaining that she was nauseous, and felt light headed. With the stomach bug going around, we thought she might be coming down with something. We also thought it could be from her allergies, but she was nauseous even when she was not around scents. She was feeling this way at least one to two days a week. Also around that time, she started getting car sick whenever she was in the car, especially when we had to drive more than a few miles. It wasn't until this week, when her dizzy spells and nausea started to become more frequent, that I knew she needed to see the Dr. It turns out this year she has been dealing with Vertigo! Now it all made sense! She started out only having occasional bouts of feeling dizzy and light headedness, which would make her nauseous. Since wasn't happening all the time, we did not see a pattern. She has missed a lot of school this week, because it is happening a lot more frequently now. She has probably missed about 8 days over the last month. Luckily she has been keeping up with her homework for the most part. We were referred to a good ENT by the pediatrician to find out the cause of the vertigo. We were hoping to get in right away, but unfortunately he is out of town this week. We have an appointment for next Wednesday morning. Until then she is resting a lot, and only doing what she can. Hopefully she has a type of vertigo that can be treated, so soon she will feel back to normal again.
Let's also hope she does not keep up the tradition of being sick next February.
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