It was a rough week in the House of Zeeke. Over the weekend, we'd noticed tiny red dots on his earlobes, arms and legs. By Monday, there were even more and he was covered in bruises. When things didn't improve on Tuesday, we took him to the pediatrician. She diagnosed the problem right away and sent us off to the emergency ward at Children's Hospital. Zeeke kept his good nature through several rounds of prodding and poking, two IVs, blood drawing, freaked out parents, and a lot of waiting.
His condition is called Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). In short, his immune system has killed off about 99% of the platelets in his blood. Doctors don't really know what causes it, but in children it's usually acute. For now the plan is to do weekly blood tests and hope he recovers on his own. In the meantime, there's a lot to worry about: bleeding wounds that won't clot, severe bruising, and head injuries that could cause internal bleeding. They outfitted him with a soft rubber helmet to wear whenever there's a chance of banging his head.
Fortunately, although his parents are emotional wrecks, Zeeke is the same sweet, happy, rambunctious kid he always is. The first thing he said when they put the helmet on him was, "I want a bicycle!" and the next morning he woke up singing. He's been good about wearing the helmet so far. His teachers at day care make him wear it whenever he goes outside or if there's a chance of rough housing. Of course, to complicate matters, he's cutting one of his final molars, so each morning there's a little bloody drool on his crib sheet which is unsettling. His pediatrician has been amazing, calling us every other day to check on him and answer any panicked questions we have for her which has helped navigating the long seven days until next Tuesday's visit with the hematologist.
Saturday morning we went to soccer camp as usual, nervous as heck but confident that with his helmet on he'd be fine. Afterward we went out and bought a ton of stickers to decorate his helmet, which he loved. After his nap, we went for a walk to visit Dena and bring her a cake for her birthday. Dena lent Zeeke a set of powerful magnets that has been amusing him greatly. After that, we drove up to Olney to have Korean barbecue with friends. Zeeke did a great job at the restaurant and enjoyed trying a lot of new foods.
Sunday, Steve & Zeeke went to the playground while Karen stayed home to tackle some chores. At the playground, Zeeke played with his classmates Amelie, Odin, and Gabriel. After finally getting comfortable the past few month with letting Zeeke climb and play freely, Steve's worries turned him back into the helicopter parent following him around every he went. After his nap, Zeeke obliged his exhausted parents with a leisurely, low-key afternoon and was rewarded with a trip out for gelato.
Conversations with Zeeke:
Zeeke was looking at an old picture of Karen & Steve when suddenly something urgent occurred to him.
"Where's Zeeke?!?"
"Oh, we hadn't met Zeeke yet."
Zeeke looked at Karen skeptically, thought for a minute, and then pointed to the picture again.
"Zeeke behind that rock."