We got a text on Thursday saying "I am sick I sent you an email", or something like that. I responded by explaining that we were on out way home from Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma and wouldn't be home for a while.
When we got home, I read the email. I am paraphrasing here, it said something to the order of "I am really sick, my head is killing me,my urine is dark orange, I am scared"
Then we got scared. We changed out of our nice Thanksgiving clothes into something more practical. I packed up my laptop computer and my c-pap and a few changes of underwear. I wanted to be prepared for anything.
Austin was really sick. We got him to the hospital Thursday and he was admitted. Nick went back to Reston, two and a half hours away. I stayed here.
I have been sleeping in a recliner near Austin's bed for the last three nights, and for at least one more.
There have been tests and more tests. Vials of blood have been drawn. With Austin's yellow skin, we thought it was hepatitis. The rash that came and went baffled everyone. Blood work suggested CMV cytomegalovirus, a virus similar to mono. This explains the jaundice: Liver complications. CMV can cause abnormal functioning of your liver and an unexplained fever.
Apparently, mono, now called Epstein Barr . I was sick with "mono" when I was 16, and I was really sick as a dog. I was hospitalized for about a week. So I can sympathize with Austin.
My son is an adult. All four of my sons are adults. But all of them have been remarkably healthy. They don't know the lingo and how to navigate the medical system. I have had (too much) experience, and try to ask the right questions and keep track of what is being done and said.
He will get better. He will be alright. But I am sure glad I was able to be here and mother my adult son when he needed it.
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