Oh Gabriel

Gabe can't seem to get a break lately; over Christmas break he had a weirdly virus that caused his body to break out head to toe in hives. As if THAT weren't bad enough, he then had an allergic reaction the dye in the benadryl which resulted in even MORE hives. Allegra finally did the trick and got rid of all of the hives, just in time for him to go back to school Monday and promptly sprain his ankle. Not just a simple twist, no no, not for Gabe; he sprained it so badly that his pediatrician was fairly certain it was fractured. He and I sat in the hospital for two hours on Tuesday to find out that they didn't think it was fractured, BUT if he was still having problems on Friday we'd need to come back and have more x rays done. He was told to take today off, keep it wrapped and iced and to take it easy. Thankfully our chiropractor had an opening today so he had some ultrasound therapy done on it and tonight it's not nearly as swollen as it was. Here's to hoping tomorrow is an okay day at school...

because...

next week is officially hell week for Gabe. Monday he'll be going in to see his physical therapist to start  serial casting on his right ankle which is incredibly tight because he's gone through yet another growth spurt. Wednesday he has to see the allergist and have a scratch test done on his back (though I am going to try and have that rescheduled) and then Thursday he is having his every other yearly MRI of his spine and brain; he's now too old for oral sedation so he'll be put completely under which I absolutely hate but it's a necessity, he just can't lay still for an hour in an MRI machine.

You know, with everything Gabe goes through he still maintains a very sunny disposition. Sure he gets a bit irritated when he has a cast, mostly because it's heavy AND he can't take a proper shower, but for the most part he's okay with it. Thankfully with the sedation drugs he'll get, he won't remember most of the MRI experience and will just be a bit sleepy for the 24 hours after the procedure. I really wish I could be more like him; he seems to take things like this in stride; like "hey no biggie, ya gotta do what you gotta do" It's become so routine for him to see docs and nurses and therapists that he doesn't even seem to care anymore that we go and see people. He is always cheerful and talkative and seems to genuinely enjoy the people who treat him, even if he doesn't particularly like the procedure they are doing. The other night in the hospital getting his x rays done, he chatted with the xray tech about her kids and asked if she thought her job was cool because he thought it would be pretty cool to see people's bones all day long. I can't get over it, he's just so go with the flow about these things. I am in awe of his patience because lord knows he doesn't get it from me :P

If you'd keep Gabe in your thoughts in the next week, that'd be fantastic...and maybe even me too :)