Jonas was bitten by a spider over the weekend. You wouldn&#8217;t think that was too serious, but it was. He developed an abscess on the back of his thigh that&#8217;s about 4&#8221; in diameter. It was red, hot to the touch, and extremely tender. I tried to take care of it myself, but it didn&#8217;t get better. When I picked him up yesterday after work, he was inconsolable. I do about half an hour of warm compresses to break up what&#8217;s in there and try to drain it myself, but it&#8217;s obvious by now that he needs more than home treatment, so off I run to Children&#8217;s Hospital. It was a nightmare. The ER was full of sick and hurt children, which set us up for a very long wait. I had forms to fill out and couldn&#8217;t remember anything to save my life, a fussy baby to care for, a headache from he!!, I was beat from a long day at work, neither one of us had time to eat dinner, etc. I was so ready to just sit in the middle of the floor and cry. One of the nurses asked me if his dad or another adult was there to help me. No. Dad lives in another state and I was in such a rush that I didn&#8217;t have the patience to wait for someone to get ready to go with me. I ran out the door alone. My baby was hurting and I didn&#8217;t have any patience for anyone. When I finally get in, the MD on duty tells me he wants to cut open my baby&#8217;s leg, drain it, irrigate it, and pack it. Then he looks at Jonas half-empty bottle and tells me he can&#8217;t sedate him. I flip. No way is he slicing open Jonas&#8217; leg without anesthetizing him. Absolutely not! So, now we&#8217;re doing antibiotics, warm compresses, and draining it at home by myself. He has 48 hours to show signs that it&#8217;s getting better or they&#8217;re going to schedule him for minor surgery to open up his leg. This is rough. In the broader scope of things, I know his injury is not that serious, but it&#8217;s taken its toll. Doing this alone is definitely not a cake walk. Talk about a major reality check. I AM a single parent. I CHOSE this for myself. I CANNOT blame anyone else.<p>OB1

OB1,<p>Oh praying for you and Jonas...it stinks when your baby's hurting....I know you wish it were you instead of him feeling that pain...<p>I pray that it will improve...no one likes the thought of their baby having their leg cut open...
did they think it was a brown recluse spider? That definately sounds like a Brown Recluse deal to me.<p>I used to be a single mother myself and I remember countless hours of things not quite as serious as yours, but still hours of no fun, hard mommy stuff. I pray for peace and power for you.<p>Please, Please, Please keep me updated on your son's progress.......
Praying for the best for you,
Hugs,
Twiisty

Ob1<p>I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal in the ER with Jonas. It is so frightening to have your little one in pain. Please know that I am saying a special prayer that all works out well. Take care of yourself as well. <p>Tina

Thanks, Twiisty. All prayers needed and oh so welcome. We don&#8217;t know what kind of spider bit him. We were visiting a friend who just moved into her new house. She&#8217;s been doing a lot of yard work &#8211; weeding, pulling out shrubs, removing an old tree. There are critters/bugs all over her home right now. We have everything from Black Widows to Brown Recluse spiders. After being bitten, Jonas ran a fever for the first 24 hours. Luckily there is no noticeable tissue damage to the area affected. He just has a very large abscess that pretty much covers the back portion of his thigh. I had to drain it this morning before going to work. It was awful. He was screaming, I was crying at his pain, and this thing is just oozing pus and blood. I know that sounds gross&#8230;.it WAS. I couldn&#8217;t believe how much gunk was coming out of his little leg. The plus in this&#8230;.he LOVES the taste of the antibiotic. No fighting to get it down his throat. I guess it doesn&#8217;t take much to please me, lol.<p>OB1

OB1,<p>I'm adding my prayers to the bunch! I know how awful it is to have to take such a little one to the ER! It isn't fun, especially doing it alone! As other's have said, keep us informed as to Jonas' recovery!<p>Prayers and love for the both of you!<p>Tigger

Okay, being very tired makes me very b*tchy. Some jerk parked their Ford Explorer within inches of my driver side door. My co-worker let me know and it totally pissed me off. This same jerk does it all the time to whomever. I wanted to drive home how perturbed I was so I went downstairs and moved my Blazer to the other side of HIS SUV&#8230;.within inches of HIS driver side door. I made a spectacle of myself. The folks in my department were watching from one of the windows to see if I would really do it. Just like I had to climb through the passenger side, so will this other jerk. I&#8217;m running on a couple hours of sleep, stress over my little guy&#8217;s pain, and I am just not in the mood to play. Grrrr!

ob1,, i hope jonas is feeling better soon. the dr. probably couldn't put jonas under because his stomach was full. although he could have given him a shot to anesthesize the area. the same thing they do when they give anyone stitches.
just make sure you don't see any red lines moving up his leg as this may indicate blood poisoning. <p> you are both in our prayers,<p> pops & fh

My prayers too. Funny how we almost feel like we know Jonas, maybe 'cause he is the only little one on this board with a name--Precious, Lil Bit and Darlin' aren't real names, well at least we hope the OWs didn't give them these names.<p>MJ

Not to take this off topic, but what about Abbi, MJ? [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img] Of course, I've been awfully quiet about our neck of the woods lately, so that's probably why she's slipped your mind.<p>But really, We all do pray that Jonas will be ok, and are anxiously waiting for an update!<p>Love,<p>Tigger & Abbi [img]images/icons/tongue.gif" border="0[/img]

I'm feelin' ya on this one... definitely have been there, still doing as H rarely takes off work to handle the kids' appointments... How is everything today??? Did they give you some ointment to put on it? Neosporine might be good???

Still praying for Jonas...hope he's feeling better...I'm glad he likes the taste of anti-biotics! I have to literally sit on my kids to have them take it! <p>Please let us know how he's doing when you have the time.<p>Oh and I can indentify with what you posted about people parking so close to your door that you can't get in or out...sometimes we all just have to proof our point, y'know? (((hugs)))<p>Hope the rest of the week goes better for you and believing for a better week for you next week.<p>God bless you and your dear son,
Hugs and prayers,
Twiisty

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by tigger4jdt:
<strong>Not to take this off topic, but what about Abbi, MJ? [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img] </strong><hr></blockquote><p>OH NO, I am sorry I forgot Abbi. Please give her a gentle squeeze from me.<p>So glad you have her such a lovely normal name. I swear I have no idea what was going through exOW's mind when she named her little girl "Precious." [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img] <p>Love,
MJ

Ohbratti<p>How is Jonas today? And you, how are YOU today? I hope you both got some sleep and Jonas is feeling better and the fever is gone.<p>I don't understand why they didn't numb the area with novocaine and proceed with the draining. It would have given him instant relief. Is the antibiotic working well enough? Are you able to take off some time from work to be with him?<p>Kids have incredible healing powers and rebound much quicker than we can, so I am trusting the Lord is watching over him.<p>I am terrified of spiders and large centipedes and this really gives me the creeps. Please let us know how Jonas is faring. We want regular updates until he is all healed up.<p>I know how tough it is caring for a little one all alone without a partner to comfort you while you comfort the child. I remember all too well and I empathize completely. I wish there would have been computers and support groups such as this where I could have gone to vent my frustrations back then. Back in the late sixties, there weren't even any support groups at all...anywhere! Never mind computers.<p>Today, my "Jonas" is 35, a stock broker, looks like Bon Jovi and is the sweetest and most wonderful young man I have even known. He grew up in spite of everything...born a preemie, in daycare, with an out-of-touch teen Mom (you are so superior to what I was back then), the accident on the picket fence, no car seat (didn't even know about them then-no one used them), the single parent home, enduring the changes and jealousies in a blended family, difficult school years, boot camp and seven years in the military, his own bad marriage and never knowing his bio-dad (and, I was married to him). My son is a survivor and an outstanding dad to his son. God watched over both of us. I am so grateful for His blessing, care and protection. So, you see? They do survive and prevail.<p>And for the Ford 'Exploder'...hahaha...you da woman! I applaud your "offense" in giving the jerk a taste of his own inconsideration. However, be very careful...these days people have short fuses and something as seemingly benign as a mild retaliation can escalate into something explosive nowadays.<p>Catnip =^^=

Jonas is much, much better today. I couldn&#8217;t take time off from work to be with him because it&#8217;s the end of the month and I had a lot of cases to wrap up. So, he spent the day with my sister, bless her heart. She&#8217;s 6 months pregnant and everything makes her sick. I didn&#8217;t ask her to work on Jonas&#8217; spider bite because I figured it would gross her out. Well, she did it anyway&#8230;and it did gross her out, but she pressed on. Throughout the whole day, she applied warm/moist compresses and gently eased the pus/blood out. By the time I got home, she had reduced the abscess by more than half. It was a big relief. It&#8217;s still sore, but improving. Poor little guy. He just recently learned to walk so he falls a lot, which causes this thing to open up and start oozing. My sister ended up buying him a couple pairs of shorts because he went through the spares in his diaper bag.<p>Strangely, I did ask the doc if he could give Jonas a local and he said it wouldn&#8217;t do much for him. The best way to go to ensure a pain free procedure would have been sedation&#8230;and he couldn&#8217;t do that because he had stuff in his tummy. I&#8217;m glad we went the conservative route. Sedation alone has so many risks. All prayers helped. Thank you so much. I remember when I used to be so cool, calm and collected. Nothing ever phased me. This little boy has me running the entire spectrum of emotions&#8230;in a matter of minutes. God, I love him so much.<p>OB1<p>P.S.
I think I started something. Everyone who's fallen victim to our jerk in the Explorer is suddenly up in arms. They took inspiration from my "counter attack" and now they all want their ounce of flesh. This guy better be careful
[img]images/icons/grin.gif" border="0[/img]

OB1,<p>I was so happy to hear that his bite is getting better! I can understand the underlying fear when you don't know what type of spider it was that bit him, especially when there are both black widows and brown recluse! Praise God, he is beginning to mend!<p>MJ,<p>Don't worry, I really was just kidding around with the name thing! But, I did give Abbi a squeeze from you anyway! She loves those, that's for sure! And, now that I think of it, there are a couple other's who've used their baby's real name, Pops and FH have named their little one Grace, and I believe Hutch and his W named their's Harly(if I got it wrong, I apologize). But, we know you have been so very busy with the adoption process and work, no one will hold it against you! [img]images/icons/grin.gif" border="0[/img] <p>Again, very happy for the progress report on Jonas!<p>Love,<p>Tigger

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by ohbratti1:
<strong>This little boy has me running the entire spectrum of emotions&#8230;in a matter of minutes. God, I love him so much.</strong><hr></blockquote><p>I guess! [img]images/icons/smile.gif" border="0[/img] <p>You are an absolutely phenomenal Mom.<p>God bless you both...<p>Catnip =^^=

[img]images/icons/smile.gif" border="0[/img] <p>Kids are tough. Especially OCs. I think God gives OCs special grace and favor and extra angels watching over them...