Jack Update pt 2

Well, no trip to the hospital for Eva would be complete without her big brother Jack having some sort of "episode". As you all might recall, way back when in February when we did not know what exactly was wrong with Eva, Jack had a trip to the hospital.

Today, he was sooooo excited to come to see Eva. We had planned all along that on Tuesday, he would come by the hospital and meet with the child life specialist to talk to him about Eva's port, treatment, hair loss, etc.

This week, I could tell that Eva was really missing her big brother. I had given her two dolls before we came. One, I told her was Eva and the other one was Jack. She has been snuggling with her Jack doll almost non-stop. She also kept looking at the picture in my phone and just saying, "Jack and Eeeeeva."

Angela comes up with Jack this afternoon and he is so happy to be there, his cheeks were flushed. He went to the store and bought Eva a balloon. We get him up to meet with the child life specialist. They come out about 45 min later and she immediately says that Jack is one of the most inquisitive children she has ever met. I was shocked by that statement! What? Jack, inquisitive?

Anyway, while we were sitting on the floor outside of Eva's room, Jack was explaining to me how Eva's port worked. I looked at his cheeks and they were still flushed. I asked Jack why his cheeks were red and he said that he was scratching it. Uh oh.

I immediately stripped him down and looked to see if I could see any red bumps on his body. He had a few. The nurse took him over to the regular ped side to see if someone there could identify what was wrong with him. It was "Fifth's Disease", a highly contagious virus. Every nurse on the floor jumped on the computer to find out what this meant. We immediately called Dr. Kennedy (our ped) to see if Jack could even see Eva at all.

It was a good news/bad news. Good news is that once the rash appears, you are no longer contagious. Bad news is that he's probably had this for over a week without us knowing so Eva is already exposed. Ugh.

So, just for precaution, we let Jack in the room to sit on the floor and just wave at his sister.

To say that Eva had been grumpy all day was an understatement. Totally understandable but an understatement. When Big Brother Jack walked into that room, Eva let out the largest squeal I have ever heard. Jaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!! She just laughed and talked to him and laughed and laughed. He gave her (through us) his Dora balloon and she was so happy. It completely changed the day for her.

Ahh, the power of a sibling visit. I know this first hand. I don't know what I'll do when my sister goes home. Maybe I need an Angela doll.