What the heck is Cervical Lymphadenitis????

Yep, it's a big word. I had never heard of it until Wednesday when I took Adam to the pediatrician. Seems that is what he had. Here's the definition of it that I found on the internet:

Lymphadenitis is the inflammation of a lymph node. It is often a complication of a bacterial infection of a wound, although it can also be caused by viruses or other disease agents. Lymphadenitis is marked by swollen lymph nodes that are painful, in most cases, when the doctor touches them. In most cases, the infectious organisms are hemolytic Streptococci or Staphylococci. Hemolytic means that the bacteria produce a toxin that destroys red blood cells.

Seems he had strep in his tonsils but made it to his lymph nodes. I noticed the night before that his neck looked swollen and that he had a fever, which concerned me. The next morning (the day before Thanksgiving, my luck!) I got him in to see our pediatrician (love that guy!). So, with some antibiotics and a little Motrin our little man is finally back to normal. This poor guy has been sick off and on all month. It's so good to see him feeling better.

You can just see his neck slightly swollen from the front.

You can see how swollen his neck is from the infection.

Big highs and lows this weekend. In November we have several family birthdays to celebrate, one of them being Clay's. We (just the two of us) went to the Outback for dinner to celebrate his birthday. It's so nice to know that even after all these years, and three kids later, we can still enjoy one another's company, just the two of us. Makes me feel better knowing that, especially when the kids are growing so fast and before you know it all three will be living on their own. I have really been thinking about that a lot lately, which I think I've even mentioned here. I either have to accept that graciously or just add more kids to my house - and no, I'm NOT pregnant, nor do I plan to be :-)

Happy Birthday, H.B.!

On a sad note, Xena, one of our little guinea pigs died. We took her in to the vet on Friday and found out that she had pneumonia. They gave us antibiotics and pain medication and sent us home to do what we could. Saturday she was worse so it was another trip to the vet to get food and a syringe to force feed her because she wasn't eating. Shortly before noon, our little guinea pig passed away. That's the hardest part of having pets.

Xena Mighty Warrior Muffin Pig

On Tuesday Syd participated in a Pinewood Derby Race for BOTH young men and women. She has always said she wishes she could have been a boy scout when she was younger because they did more exciting things than girl scouts. Of course, she never went on past Brownies. She received the prestigious award of "Most Muscular" car. Hmmm.

After much running around these past few weeks I have to say: I am sick. There, I admitted it. I wanted to deny it for so long but after three weeks I had to suck it up and go to the doctor. My family - and myself - are tired of hearing me blow my nose and cough, cough, cough. Yuck.